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 enlarge | Author: Ron Paul
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Category: Book
List Price: $21.00
Buy New: $11.55
You Save: $9.45 (45%)
New (50) Used (17) Collectible (6) from $10.75
Rating:  708 reviews
Sales Rank: 115
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 192
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.2 x 0.9
ISBN: 0446537519
Dewey Decimal Number: 973.931
EAN: 9780446537513
ASIN: 0446537519
Publication Date: April 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
Excellent Book. Dangerous Advice. October 30, 2008
6 out of 9 found this review helpful
Dear Dr. Paul,
I commend you on your new book: The Revolution. On your courage to be the lone voice of dissent. On your faith in the Constitution. Your grasp of economics. And not least of all: your prose. As I finished up the final chapter I knew that I would spend the next few weeks helplessly fueling the flames of your intellectual napalm. Nearly everything you say is right. Nearly every claim you make is accurate. They make sense to an average reader even though he may have paid more attention to his attractive classmates than his economics lectures. And yet, I could not help but see the great harm that your manifesto could bring.
You see, Dr. Paul, there are some ideas that mean well but are still so dangerous that they are best abandoned before they unleash an epidemic. Communism comes to mind. As does religion. In theory, both work for improvement in the condition of human societies, but in practice, have done little except systematically enslave and exterminate most of humanity. Your ideas, although nothing like the two killers aforementioned can certainly exterminate our way of life.
When I was learning how to formulate a thesis, the instructors never let the students read the critics until they had a thesis of their own. The reason is that many young people read a brilliantly argued position and gravitate towards it even though it could very well be wrong. Dead wrong. Because young brains are filled with last night's football scores, social networking profiles and Britney Spears, they have limited perspective to bring to bear on a hypothesis. But yours is here and it sounds great so why not sign up? All the cool people are doing it. Their brains are desolate, and to the thirsty, even sea water tastes delicious.
Our disagreement is simple. You believe in the inherent good of your countrymen whereas I am convinced of their incredible, unbelievable stupidity. It is one thing to seek the "spirit" of a 2 century old document in guiding modern government but it is a whole other matter to delay action while seeking consensus from 300 million imbeciles. I understand the concept of representative democracy but each time I see it play I cannot help but feel sorry for the dog that has a constitutional obligation to let the tail wag it. Please understand that I do not regard our Constitution as broken. What's broken is our population. They can't be bargained with, they can't be reasoned with but they're not goal-driven like the Terminator. They're as care-free as the house cats. And since their walnut brains lack the necessary interface for reason the only way to govern this feline herd is through deception and obfuscation. Shine the laser dot in the direction you want them to go and watch them run! Gay marriage over there! RUN! VOTE! Tax Cut X over here! VOTE! The framers designed a government to serve a people that is concerned, informed and intelligent. If you look at America today and see it to be even one of the three then I believe your passion has triumphed over reason.
The same applies to your position on sound money. Surely, the best way to avoid spending is to ACTUALLY spend. Warfare may rest in peace. How many of our countrymen would cheerfully write a check for their share of Iran? Or Iraq? Or Afghanistan? Now ask yourself how many would pony up for Rwanda, or Yugoslavia or even the ship pirated off of the Somali coast. I bet fewer than you think. Non-intervention sometimes carries a steep price denominated in human suffering. Wait long enough and it's lapping at our shores. Are you so certain that your constituents would not rather live the illusion of benevolent heroes than face their true reflections as petty monsters? Such illusions are not cheaply bought and what better way to pay than to institute a tax that few know about and even fewer understand? It's the government's money! Let's spread it around!
It is true that armies and warfare have always been, due to their cost, the exclusive domain of governments. They would clearly decline with a Paul monetary policy. But what about science? I hate to imagine the decline in research of all kinds that would occur as soon as the bulk of our citizens knew how much it cost them. Cancer? Why should I pay? I don't know anyone with it. AIDS? Only gay people get it. Malaria? I don't visit the tropics. I would be shocked if, with completely sound money, humans could have ever launched a satellite, made it to the moon or built a Large Hadron Collider. Who would pay for something they don't understand and/or failed in high school? The veil of private enterprise is quickly pierced by the repeated failure that is characteristic of all great journeys of discovery and nothing but inflationary government can long endure its filthy wake and deadly undertow. You and I both know that it would not end there. Mass population requires mass production which requires mass consumption which, whether we like it or not, requires a spender of last resort. With no credit limit.
All that aside, I was impressed by your manifesto. It was the first, and likely last, time in my lifetime that a bona-fide politician has brought up real issues instead of regurgitating the stupid petty garbage currently enlisted to divide the flock and win elections. Thank you. But so long as voting is as much a right as breathing, the ballot box will ever be the scythe with which the foolish cut down the intelligent. The penalty is steep and growing. Eventually, enough people might notice. But so what if they do? Our society operating on truth and sound economic principles will always be reduced to the lowest common intellect.
Joseph Marie de Maistre wrote that every country has the government it deserves. We certainly deserve every pork-barrel of ours. Leaders should not be judged on the eloquence of their voice, nor the color of their skin, nor, with apologies to Dr. King, even the contents of their character. They, as all people, should be judged exclusively on the contents of their minds and when we collectively wise up and realize this, perhaps then, we will deserve a president like you.
Dr. Paul, may you live so long.
Sincerely,
Helga Mohammed el-Salami
A MUST READ October 29, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Every American should read this book. They need to know how far we have strayed from what we once held in high esteem. Americans need to insist our political leaders serve us as our Constitution intended.
 La-La Land? October 29, 2008
3 out of 10 found this review helpful
My description of the views of each the following three groups:
* Ultra Libertarians
* Ultra-right wing Conservatives
* Ultra-left wing Lliberals
La-La Land
I suspect that will generate at least a few comments :-)
The simplified prescriptions presented in the book remind me of an idealistic adolescent who "sort of" understands the world and has a simple solution for everything. All three groups listed above tend to fit this description, IMO.
Paul offers what he believes is a "back to the Constitution" outlook that's certainly worthy of real political debate. He discusses a variety of social and economic ills that he believes would be ENTIRELY cured by maximum personal and economic freedoms, and the almost complete elimination of any form of government. A compelling theory that's been argued by many ever since the Constitutional convention. Unfortunately, not even all the authors of the Constitution felt the same way Paul does.
There's a lot of "throw the baby out with the bathwater" prescriptions presented, which provides a good lens to view one group's opinion of what's wrong with the Republic and how to fix it.
One example -- IMO, Paul is basically correct with his blistering opinion of the Federal Reserve. But I don't think we necessarily need to return to "gold-backed money" or gold-based transactions to fix our monetary policy. Simple limits to the growth of money would achieve the same thing. Not that that's gonna happen anytime soon with politicians who hope to inflate our way out of the national debt.
Many major issues are only superficially covered, if at all. Environmental protection, energy, immigration, and campaign finance reform are four examples.
Everyone should read this October 28, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I can't imagine anyone completing this book and disagreeing with it, which I suppose would explain why all the 1 and 2 star reviewers either clearly didn't read the book or didn't understand it at all.
Ron Paul's The Revolution October 28, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I never would have read this book had it not been chosen by a member of our book club;I'm glad I did. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has ever felt their only option in voting was to choose the lesser of two evils. I felt that this book was an incredible eye opener for me, and even though it really saddened me at times, I believe it gave me hope in the possibility of a better way for our government to work simply by remembering our Constitution.
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