Ogre’s Politics and Views

Book Review: Illinois Deserves Better, 2008. Bambenek, J., Behrend. B. Booksurge Publishing.

I purchased this book on the advice of the author. Well, who else would know that it’s a good book, right? Well, I bought it, not being a citizen of Illinois, to see what was in it. Did you know that the state of Illinois, the Land that brought us the one president who did the most to destroy states’ rights (Lincoln) actually requires a vote every 20 years to determine if the citizens want to hold a Constitutional Convention. This book is written in support of voters requesting a convention this year when voters go to the polls.

The book is plain and well-written. It is divided into 5 sections — Introduction, The State of the State, The Constitutional Convention Process, Arguments against a Convention, and Potential Reforms. The supports for a Constitutional Convention are clearly outlined and very well-supported. After reading this book, you will have a hard time saying that Illinois does NOT need a Constitutional Convention — unless you just live in complete denial of the facts described in the book.

A good portion of the book is spent on the hope for a better Illinois. Instead of being just a book that tries to scare people into supporting one political position, almost half of the book describes all the wonderful possibilities that can be brought about should the voters decide to hold a Convention. If you’re interested in the Constitutional Convention process, or if you are a voter in Illinois, I strongly suggest you get your hands on this book. Of course, it would be even more significant if states actually had rights today…

Popularity: 19% [?]

Tags: Book Reviews, Government by Ogre
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Fight Global Warming Now: The Handbook for Taking Action in Your Community. 2007, Bill McKibben, Henry Holt and Company, New York, NY. $13.00.

From the back cover:

The essential activist guide to stopping climate change, from the team behind Step It Up, that national day of action that was the largest environmental demonstration in a generation.

Yes, yours truly really is reviewing this book. Someone with the promotional team sent me a review copy of the book, and here I am reviewing it. You can stop laughing now.

I think the book’s title is rather misleading. It appeared to be about the global warming religion movement, but that’s not quite true. Instead the book seems to be more about how to do social activism and get “results,” and it happens to use global warming as an example. However, the basic techniques outlined in the book would seem to work well for any socialist-liberal cause. To give you an idea of the depth of the book, here’s the table of contents:

1. Make it Credible
2. Make It Snappy
3. Make It Collaborative
4. Make It Meaningful
5. Make It Creative (and Fun!)
6. Make It Wired
7. Make It Seductive (to the Media)
Afterward: Make It Last

Do you notice what’s missing? I did, right off. How about a chapter called “Make It Factual?” Yeah, that’s not going to happen, is it?

The book starts right off in chapter 1 letting people know that they do not have to know factual information to push their cause. Instead, it says, “You just need to be able to speak strongly about the essentials of the issue.” Then the chapter goes on to provide “the essentials” — even if they are factually incorrect and deliberately vague. It gives “information” like the idea that no one knows how many people might die from a possible increase in global warming — but it might be A LOT. Scary, eh? Then the book absolutely declares that “there is no possibility that the heating we’re seeing can be explained by anything other than human causes.” Nothing like a little hubris and misinformation, is there? The FACT that the sun is warmer couldn’t possibly have anything to do with warmth on the planet, could it? Just that one statement is enough to make the rest of the book relatively worthless — the book has made a declaration of absolute fact that cannot be bolstered or proven. And it is upon this fact that the entire religion of global warming rests.

The book goes on with typical answers to questions about global warming. Apparently Barack has read this book, because one of the answers is right in line with his campaign. The book maintains that man reducing carbon output will cost a LOT of money — but that’s okay and while millions will be unemployed by the gas and coal industries, they can all be put to work building (insanely inefficient) solar panels. No, we won’t be able to heat our houses or drive to work, but if we could get to work, we would be able to build solar panels. Nice, huh?

The rest of the book details how to reach those goals. For example, one section mentions that by stating a more specific goal (cut carbon emissions by 80% by 2050) that they could completely avoid talking about the incorrect facts and made-up crap about the global warming religion at all. Instead of having to defend their insane assertions, they were allowed to talk about their goal — and it was much easier to talk about a concrete goal than the reasons behind it and the dramatic, devastating effects that their goal would have on civilization.

One section of the book deals with recruiting people to help — they target government employees and unemployed students. What a surprise there, huh? People who don’t work for a living, who have lots of time on their hands, and who like handouts from government.

So in conclusion, the book is more of an overall socialist activist handbook. If you want to help move America today towards the failed policies of the Soviet Union of the last century, get this book and apply it! If you have no meaning in your life and worship government, you need this book. If you are an adherent to the religion of man-made global warming, this is required reading for you. On the other hand, if you’re a working, productive citizen who likes freedom, you don’t need this book. Some might say that it’s good to know your enemy, but basically the tactics and practices described in this book are the same ways liberals have been working for decades: use lies and half-truths to scream about emotions and ignore reality.

Popularity: 10% [?]

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The Listening Heart: Vocation and the Crisis of Modern Culture, by A.J. Conyers (217 pgs). Spence Publishing Compnay, Dallas, 2006.

From the inside flap:

A culture built upon the ideology of individual choice will be a culture of alienation, loneliness, and violence.

Gee, does that sound like any culture you might know?

Those who read this site regularly might be thinking that Ogre disagrees strongly with the premise of this book — after all, Ogre supports freedom for the individual above all else. But this book makes an excellent point — that when the individual see themselves as more important than anything else, the culture disintegrates. And that’s certainly what’s happened to Western Culture since the 60s or 70s when the individual started being more important than anything else.

Who is this book for?

[those] who saw in the 1960s not a liberating new epoch, but the working-out of a certain decadence that had been predicted for many years, even centuries. These dissidents of the modern spirit see in the fashions and moral irresponsibility, in the cult of self-destruction among the young and the selfish flight of the old from family responsibilities; in the flagrant violations of ancient taboos in everyday speech; in the loss of courting and romance, frequently now reduced to animal coupling without ceremony, promise, or rite; and in the unwillingness to say that even the most perverse forms of sexual behavior should be censured, the shape of a culture that is dying.

Whew. I’m thinking the author had me in mind when he wrote this one. This book is another excellent read.

The author throughly tackles the meaning of the word “vocation” — and it’s not what it means today. He goes on to outline truly what it is about our culture that is making it self-destruct — and how it can actually be repaired. Personally, I’m not so sure a culture’s decline, once started, can be reversed, but it’s nice to read about what’s really going on, so if nothing else, you can reverse it in your own life and in those around you.

Much of the book is a history book — describing the culture over the ages, including motivations for doing certain things by different peoples. If you have been raised in the culture of today (”ME”), this information might be a shock to you. I, as many others like me, were told when I was young, “You can be president if YOU want to.” After reading this book, I now see so many things wrong with that statement.

As you might be able to tell, the solutions outlined are NOT government solutions — they cannot be. But government certainly encourages these problems and the decline to continue. If you have time, I strongly suggest you read this book. I’m willing to bet anyone who reads it will at least learn something new about the culture, at best completely change their view on jobs, careers, and “vocation.”

Popularity: 9% [?]

Tags: Book Reviews by Ogre
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The Natural Family: a manifesto, by Allan C. Carloson and Paul T. Mero (256 pgs). Spence Publishing Company, Dallas, 2007.

First, to qualify the title and “Manifesto” (from the book’s introduction):

A manifesto is a coherent expression of a social, political, and cultural platform. A proper manifesto includes an account of history, a statement of principles, and a program of action. The classic manifesto is also universal; that is, it aspires to speak to the whole human experience, to all peoples, not just to a small community.

Let me be the first to say this is a “proper” and “classic” manifesto. This book, while only 256 pages long, is a monster. It’s absolutely jam-packed with great stuff. Sure, it’s somewhat political, but not in the typical way. It doesn’t look for government solutions or political solutions to problems — instead it outlines exactly what SHOULD be. At the same time, it doesn’t take the high road and preach to the reader. It just tells you the way it really is.

Read this statement:

And yet, the natural family — part of the created order, imprinted on our natures, the source of bountiful joy, the foundation of new life, the bulwark of ordered liberty — stands reviled and threatened in the early twenty-first century.

This book is good. REALLY good. So good, in fact, that it’s going to appear here in the weekly book review again in the future. I’d like to just quote the whole book here for you, but then you won’t go buy it, will you? (Disclaimer: I receive no renumeration for this review in any way, shape, or form. The publishers were kind enough to provide me a review copy, but that’s it).

I have already read and re-read many sections of this book. There’s a few small place where I disagree — because part of the manifest proposes solutions to the crisis of the disappearing natural family. When they are common sense solutions, I always agree. But when they are government solutions, I hesitate a great deal. I cannot decide, personally, if the state really has a vested interest in the family enough to warrant taking away freedoms to support the family.

The book lists out various ideas and has a long list of principles. For example, the very first principle is a tough one — it’s one that simply does not exist any more today in most of the country:

We affirm that the natural family, not the individual, is the fundamental unit of society.

Try and sell that one on Wall Street or Madison Avenue.

This book is not just good, it’s great. If you like reading about deep subjects, if you want to see true solutions, and perhaps if you like to root for the underdog, this book is for you. I wish everyone in the country could read this book — it could be as powerful as Atlas Shrugged. You can get more information about this book online, and you can even get your own free copy there!

Popularity: 7% [?]

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Time for the Tuesday Book Review. Well, actually not. The Tuesday Book Review will appear tomorrow. Sorry if you were looking forward to it. Instead, here is something much nicer:

Popularity: 7% [?]

Tags: Book Reviews by Ogre
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