Rating: 
Summary: Hightower Should Run With the Greens
Review: "If the Gods" is a remarkable synthesis of hilarity and political sincerity! Hightower is an insider and inspires confidence in his knowledge. His knowledge inspires a rejection of the current political (especially the electoral) system in America. The system he describes is pure crap: lackey politicians fawning to corporate interests, selling a vote at the drop of a hat. What I, a conservationist, liked most about "Gods" is that Hightower saves his strongest and most appropriate ridicule for the wealthy, wantonly wasteful ignorami who don't give a damn about a sustainable economy. I think Hightower should run for president as a populist Green. He could put some extra common sense into the Green party while putting some environmental awareness into populism. Go Hightower!
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Summary: Texas wit for political cynics
Review: A quick, enjoyable read for anyone disgusted by the 2000 election circus. The book's best feature is its down-home humor and wit. The author remembers better than many politicians that democracy begins and ends with the people. Don't read this book if you're looking for 2-sided, scholarly analysis of political issues; Hightower blames NAFTA and corporate greed for most social ills. But the Texas twang behind this populist spiel will leave you smiling, even if it does not rouse you to political action.
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Summary: Be Informed - Read this book!
Review: Aimed at the everyman of middle income or less, this informative treatice details some of the ways in which our leaders have mislead. Find out how Corporate America influences elections through barely legal practices, how our sovereignity is being undermined by NAFTA and the WTO. You might find these truths almost unbelievable! Hightower doesn't just leave you mad and wondering what to do about it - he provides an extensive list of websites. It is not necessary to be liberal to enjoy and benefit from this book. These are simply facts with opinion and humor thrown into the mix. Get the book, get really mad, and do something about it - get connected.
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Summary: Who owns the Politicians?
Review: For anyone concerned about the drift of present day politics, this is must reading. Very serious, but with an offset of humor that tickles the funny bone. You have to laugh to keep from crying! Recommended for anyone who intends to vote in the Presidential election of 2000, and a reminder to those who don't vote. They should. The system will only change if the voting public demands it. Pray for the Republic, but vote your convictions. Enjoy Hightower's investigative reporting. He tells it like it is.
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Summary: High-octane punditry from a fresh and different perspective.
Review: For anyone who's already tired of the year 2000 general election campaign of Shrub Dubya and Al Snore (and who isn't?), Jim Hightower's new book will come as a breath of fresh air."If the Gods Had Meant for Us to Vote They Would Have Given Us Candidates" is an ambitious sequel to "There's Nothing in the Middle of the Road but Yellow Stripes and Dead Armadillos." In clear, concise prose (despite what you may think from the long-winded title), Hightower seeks to analyze just why our political system has failed to provide the kind of real choice that voters crave in the race for president. More importantly, Hightower suggests things that average citizens can do to win back their voice in government at the local (and even national) level. Not surprisingly for a self-proclaimed populist, Hightower identifies the concentration of corporate power and the influence of money as ranking among the primary reasons why Democratic and Republican politicians so rarely seem to represent the interests of the middle class and the working poor. In Hightower's view, both parties are equally corrupt, and this even-handed contempt for the status quo spurs him onward in the search for "authentic" alternatives. First, however, he sets the stage by challenging the conventional wisdom of the mainstream media, in particular the commonly held assumption that the country is enjoying an age of unprecedented prosperity. "If the Gods..." is chock-full of statistics that make a good case for disproving that claim. Indeed, Hightower notes that "25 percent of the jobs in today's celebrated economy pay a poverty wage! That's 32 million people." By and large, most of his facts and figures are attributed to respectable sources. This background can get very depressing at times. The chapters about the effects of GATT, NAFTA, and the World Trade Organization are truly disturbing in their surreal descriptions of the unintended consequences of blindly embracing the type of "free trade" our leaders say is so good for us in the age of globalization. To his credit, Hightower does not play an isolationist, "America First" card. He merely points out that some of these much-touted trade agreements are resulting in the loss of our own national sovereignty, and the exploitation of cheap foreign labor, to profit a rich elite at the expense of workers at home and abroad, and with a disastrous toll on the environment, as well. Fortunately, if the reader can get past the doom and gloom of all the information about the extent of the problem, Hightower proves that--in the end--he is an optimist. Unlike in "Armadillos," he cites many examples of people fighting for a measure of economic and social justice, and winning. From the United Students Against Sweatshops group that successfully lobbied to change university policies on using Third World subcontractors to produce clothing, to the Missoula New Party that got its progressive candidates elected to seats on the city council, so-called ordinary men and women are making a difference. The secret, Hightower says, is to start small and gradually reach for more and more substantial gains. The main weakness of "If the Gods..." is in Hightower's tendency to propose simple solutions to very complex issues, and to elevate modest accomplishments to the significance of great achievements. Obviously, some of his populist cheerleading must be taken with more than a grain of salt. But he does know how to put forth a persuasive argument about what's wrong with our nation, and he does offer a convincing ray of hope that all is not lost, even as we prepare for yet another meaningless presidential election. If you are weary of hearing about politics as usual from the conservative, commercial-friendly likes of Spam Donaldson and Cookie Roberts, Hightower may be just the ticket to help you care again. Finally, the very fact that you won't be seeing this book discussed in the major newspapers or on prime-time network television is more than enough reason for checking it out for yourself.
Rating:
Summary: Jim Hightower is a dangerous man
Review: He not only does his research and identifies the problems, but offers viable solutions. And he does it with wit, candor and charm. Whether you agree with him or not, this book should be required reading for every American.
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Summary: The People's Republic of the United Socialized States
Review: Here is the new name for the country when Hightower becomes president. I have no doubt it will be as democratic and well run as many other people's republics. Just think of what's possible in this brave new socialized world with no corporations: Standing in line for two hours for a piece of stale bread Few consumer goods - and those you can get don't work No incentive to do better A massive state apparatus that controls everything right down to what you can think Purges Mass murder Starvation Of course I'm just using examples by proxy from the old Soviet Union, China, North Korea and other progressive states that Hightower aspires to. Anyway, it would be too easy to say Hightower's and his phony religion are disgusting, what is worse are the fools who buy this trash and write glowing reviews of it. Want to get to the promised land. Why wait for Hightower? - Just buy a one way ticket to North Korea.
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Summary: Still Brilliant, Still Important
Review: Here you find a fiery populist manifesto. Well thought out and excellently written, this book will leave you craving more. Hightowner not only attacks the dingbats who were the 2000 candidates but also the system that produced them. His witty indictment of the corporate state will make this book relevant long after the partisan feelings of the election have cooled. Don't be fooled, Hightower is no socialist, he's a patriotic populist leftist. He believes in the free enterprise system, he just thinks that big government and big business are subverting it. He believes in American style democracy, he just thinks that corporate power and the two parties have perverted the process. In spite of his prescient analysis, he is no pessimist, Hightower believes the people can take back the country. Indeed, he believes they are doing it already, he just wants to get you to join in. Absolutely brilliant, one of the best books I've read all year. Buy it; read it, live it.
Rating:
Summary: A Great, Great Book
Review: Hightower is a stinkin' genius. This book is a must-read during this vacuous media-spectacle of an election year that we're all suffering through. He exposes the political big shots and boneheads for what they are, and tops it all off with encouraging stories about real folks at the grassroots who are working to take back our democracy. Power to the people!
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Summary: Nonsensical rhetoric
Review: Hightower makes the case once again for his own sound political defeat with the usual nonsensical political observations. Since the end of his own political career, he has continued to promote his own failed years in office with observations that are neither insightful or novel. I found nothing new or particularly insightly about this book. The information is nothing less than the personal diatribe of a failed politician who is most intent on blowing his own "broken" horn.
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