Rating: 
Summary: The Revolt of the Mass
Review: The first thing I should say is that this is not light reading. With that said, read it anyway. Gasset wrote something as contemporary today as it was in the 1920s and 30s. Operating on the premise that we have seen since Thucydides, that the mass of citizens, when unchecked does damage, does not consider the consequences of its actions, its demands, its lifestyle without understanding or thinking about the system of civilisation which makes their relatively free and prosperous lives possible."It is false to say that history cannot be foretold," says Ortega. Obviously, since this book is equally prescient about the Fascist rallies of the 1930s and the youth rebellion of the 1960s. Perhaps in light of the 20th Century, we should look back at this philosopher from its dawn and see that Gasset saw the fundamental problem of the next century (incorporating the majority into the political and cultural realms when they had been absent throughout history) and we failed to listen to his warning.
Rating:
Summary: Pre-Disney Wake Up Call
Review: This book was originally published, I believe, in the 1930's. It is a work of extraordinary prescience, the full import of which will continue to be measured well into future ages. Against the backdrop of the overthrow of Old World civilization, the author, a Spanish philosopher, describes the Revolt of the Masses. "Mass man," the principal representative of the modern superstate, is an inert, unthinking being hostile to the finer creations of aristocratic culture and easy prey for demagogues of every political persuasion. He is characterized by passivity, an appetite for entertainment and spectacles, and a hostility toward the sensitivity, discipline and training that are necessary prerequisites to aristocratic culture. We are all "mass men." This book is a compelling starting point in any inquiry into the cultural decline of modern democratic civilization
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books I've ever read
Review: This is a surpassingly good book. Its prose is stunningly lucid and concise. Its analysis of the "mass man" is so penetrating and insightful as to be almost superhuman. Its predictions of the rise of Naziism and Fascism, made decades before they actually occurred, were uncannily prescient. Its explanations of the factors underlying modern political trends were so cogent and forceful as to require assent.
Overall, one of the best books I've ever read.
Rating:
Summary: A Good Book.
Review: While Ortega Y Gasset is somewhat inaccurate about Fascism (as it applied to Italy and German National Socialism -- not Spanish), it nonetheless is a compelling book that drops a hard kick in the crotch of all "Demo-Fraud" lovers like 99.9% of our "loved" politicians and 95% of the human estate. A good book, if you want to know why you're a sheep, just like everyone else!
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