[Eccl 10:2]

The Left will immediately trash the book, its author, and its fans as racist - sight unseen, words unread.

Whatever point the author is trying to make, he could have used a better metaphore.

PR nightmare.

[Squantos]

Bttt

[Travis McGee]

CW2 Ping

I'm pinging the CW2 list to this book review, because the author is advocating a form of guerrilla civil war, the strategy being the deliberate withholding of the productive output of society's non-parasites. Author Tom Baugh sees the same impending financial and social meltdown that many of us are predicting. His contribution is to suggest that we help to kick the rotting edifice over sooner rather than later. If the "monkey collective" manages to suck the last ounce of liberty and freedom from our country, there may not be enough of a foundation left for rebuilding. Baugh is advocating sort of a "capital strike" against the growing socialist collective. It's a pretty radical book, and many readers will not enjoy some of his positions. I had trouble with some myself. But the book is a welcome edition to any freedom-lover's shelf. I strongly recommend it. If nothing else, it will force you to critically examine some of your own ideas.

[silverleaf]

on the wish list!

[Nowhere Man]

Bookmark Bump

[chrisser]

Thanks for the review.

I just bought the book - received it last week. My wife is about half way through and I’ll be reading it after.

[TimSkalaBim]

"Whether this strategy will be taken up by enough producers to have an effect on the collective remains to be seen..."

lol, it won't.

[tbw2]

I’m about half way through this book. The challenging of the “culture of niceness” is absolutely correct. His break down on economic development and productivity are insightful. His criticism of religion comes across as horribly arrogant. The other issue I have is the statement: “Grudgers can live in a society and get along fine”, yet he comes across as a “don’t be perfect, please, so I can be pissed off at you, too, you scum bag”. We’re all roadblocks to his productivity, even if we’re self sufficient and leave the guy alone.
If he’d had only the economic discussions, it would have come across as ground breaking communication of evolution of productive technology and why automation leads to more regulation.
The endless paragraphs of why he fired people and others he has worked with make that half of the book real like a “why I hate people” vent.
And cutting out the venting would have made it a good book.

[Noumenon]

Looks very interesting. I've thought along similar lines, simply because it is the obvious thing to do IF you understand what's being done to us. In my list of five things to do that I cite in my Fourth of July Tea Party Speech. Specifically: Take as much of your personal and business economies underground as you can. Don't feed the beast that's feeding on you. Yes, that's a call for open rebellion and economic sabotage.

[Nebr FAL owner]

Guerilla warfare can only succeed when those engaged in it have the population on thier side to the point were the people are not just supportive of your ideas but willing to give active aid & assistance .

Sadly we are not quite at that point just yet. Also the greatest weapon that a guerilla has is not a rifle or a machine gun or even a rocket launcher ,it is access to the internet & desk top publishing for the purpose of desiminating information & ideas that the powers that be deem subversive.

[bayouranger]

. If you’re an Ayn Rand fan...

I am, and thanx for the ping.

[Jet Jaguar]

Thanks for the link.

[Lurker]

Oh great....another book to read. Thanks, pal.

Best,

L

[ziravan]

I just ordered it.

[ziravan]

Finished the book. I hope a review isn’t too revealing.

1. I was more offended by his repeated appeals to stop reading because I would be offended than by what he thought was offensive. About 2/3rds of those remarks should be removed - if I already bought the book, I don’t need to be reversed-psyched to keep reading.

I’m a religious person, but that doesn’t mean I’m so tin-eared that I can’t read/hear a different POV. If him simply saying a few things that I disagree with about religion were enough to make me rebel, then I’d be a danged liberal, wouldn’t I?

2. He’s too hard on Dave Ramsey. I understand Ramsey’s point of view - and I’m a fan. I understand Baugh’s POV as well. I think a happy medium between the two would be Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad, Poor Dad. Dave is against all debt, but his focus is eliminating consumer debt. Tom is for debt as a hedge against hyperinflation, but a focus on acquiring things for survival is different than being over-extended on credit for fluff.

Dave Ramsey’s audience understands that his total attack on debt is in context of putting yourself in a position to capitalize on your ability to profit from your own work. In that, Baugh should agree - stop paying your credit masters and you stop feeding monkeys.

3. I was hoping that there would be a large section of concrete actions to take to starve the monkeys. I think it’s more a philosophical than practical guide. (I guess a real individualist can learn and move to the practical by themselves and that is part of the point.)

Things I liked:

1. The story of his arrest does put into clear context the way the system is geared against the individual.

2. I love the tweak on “subconscious” and grammar.

3. Epilogue 2, “Well, well, well. I guess we just learned something about ourselves, didn’t we?” Yes.

4. The book does spell out the real battle lines very well. Worth it to read for that alone.

Overall, it’s a good read. I recommend it and will likely buy a few copies for people I know that will get something from it.

[jokar]

Starving the Monkeys

BUMP

[Chickensoup]

Reading it. Interesting.