Rating: 
Summary: So, who thinks for you?
Review:
This is the second book I've read by Gerry Spence.The first was "Half-Moon and Empty Stars" It was excellent,and so is this.(see my review of Jan.20,2004.)
Gerry has lead a wonderful life and tries to tell us what is important in life if we want to get the most out of it.What we should think about and some of the ideas he gives are somewhat difficult to understand and therefore he gives us several examples as well as some of the things he doesn't mean when he talks about his seven steps.
Spence has an excellent command of language and has real talent in phrasing a sentence to paint a picture.He is also a painter,poet,and photographer and his abilities with language allows him to paint images with it.
It doesn't matter how free you think you are,reading this book will show you that most of us have never really tasted freedom.
There are so many good 'lines'in this book that drive his points home.
For instance:
"The enemy most encountered today is 'our vision of ourselves'-as only another digit on a balance sheet.The enemy is our vision of ourselves-as an insignificant and anonymous occupant of the streets,where we merge like blades of grass with millions to make up the lawn,which the master in turn mows as he pleases,and upon which the master frolics.
Or:
Political correctness is the hollow voice of power exhorting the slaves to let the master think for them.It is often no more than the dictates of a group of self-appointed censors foisting their doctrine on us.I say,question relentlessly,bravely,that dogma that is said to be politically correct."
And:
"In the end all systems enslave."
""What is true for the master is rarely true for the slave."
Gerry gives us some real thought provoking stuff!
Rating:
Summary: Gerry Spence - the consumate new republican
Review: Gerry Spence is indeed the spokesperson for the new Republican. For someone who began as a bleeding heart liberal, his Wyoming breeding showed through and the heart of the west took over. "Leave us alone!", he cries, "Let us live our lives the way we want to. In the freedom of our land and our hearts and with our souls loosened to the zephyr of truth!"Look past his courtroom rhetoric speaking to the skeptic. Hard words when he calls you SLAVE. Look past his way of skipping off to the far side so that a compromise is what he really means. When he calls you slave and you deny it, he knows that in your heart you will compromise by allowing that you carry chains. Look beyond this lawyer like tactic and you will find a true gem teaching you to let go. Let your western spirit take you where your life should have gone from the beginning. After reading this book, I nodded and told my boss I would have quit him cold if we already didn't have the ideal relationship Gerry talks about as his hope for the future worker. Read this and quit! Then fire the governor in your state!
Rating:
Summary: Gerry Spence - the consumate new republican
Review: Gerry Spence is indeed the spokesperson for the new Republican. For someone who began as a bleeding heart liberal, his Wyoming breeding showed through and the heart of the west took over. "Leave us alone!", he cries, "Let us live our lives the way we want to. In the freedom of our land and our hearts and with our souls loosened to the zephyr of truth!" Look past his courtroom rhetoric speaking to the skeptic. Hard words when he calls you SLAVE. Look past his way of skipping off to the far side so that a compromise is what he really means. When he calls you slave and you deny it, he knows that in your heart you will compromise by allowing that you carry chains. Look beyond this lawyer like tactic and you will find a true gem teaching you to let go. Let your western spirit take you where your life should have gone from the beginning. After reading this book, I nodded and told my boss I would have quit him cold if we already didn't have the ideal relationship Gerry talks about as his hope for the future worker. Read this and quit! Then fire the governor in your state!
Rating: 
Summary: Enough steps, already!
Review: I have had it up to here with self-help books that prescribe various numbers of steps for curing the many ailments of humankind. There are so many books of this kind out there that customers have become conditioned to snap up anything to do with "Steps". It's an interesting juxtaposition: A book about freedom that takes advantage of brand recognition (a form of slavery?) to attract buyers. It makes one wonder - is this book really about freedom or is it just another product in the vast tidal wave of mediocre self-help books? While Gerry Spence is adept at lecturing us on the virtues of freedom and independence, it's interesting to note that he himself is not free enough nor independent enough to come up a more imaginitive title for this book. But that would just confuse the book's intended audience, thereby reducing sales, much to the disappointment of Mr. Spence, his publishers, and their bankers. But enough ranting. I really must get back to the book. I only have two more steps to go, just two steps to Freedom...
Rating: 
Summary: Good intent, poorly delivered.
Review: In the acknowledgements section of the book, Spence commends his editors for trying "to hold the anarchy of my rhetoric to some faint, disciplined line." They should have held on a little tighter. This book is wandering, overblown, and reflects a rather frighteningly paternalistic world view. If you approach this book as a woman, you will find that Spence glories in generalizing about "man" this and "man" that, and it seemed clear to me that he is thinking about and speaking to "men" and not human adults. Women get a token mention here or there, and are most often celebrated when they occupy the role of mother. To wit, "She has reserved to the self the most important days of all - the days when she is a mother." While he decries political correctness, he seems unaware of the size of his personal blind spots around gender issues. While his message that we are more "enslaved" than we know is a good one, there are two books that do a better job of explaining this slavery (Ishmael by Daniel Quinn) and what to do about it (Your Money or Your Life by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin) I suggest you give those books a try and give this one a pass.
Rating:
Summary: How OBJECTIVE are you about yourself?
Review: Seven Steps to Personal Freedom
By Gerry Spence
A philosopher once said "we read to know we are not alone". With me, that rings true especially in regard to my thoughts, observations, speculation, & conjecture on things about life and living. This book is a dead-ringer hit on life's issues that folks need to ponder & reconsider. As Gerry points out in other books --
"there are folks who have never considered a new idea, who worship the same God and vote the same party of their fathers, whose friends believe the same, act the same, look the same, and say the same things that they say."
This book makes you seriously examine if you fit that category. If you think you're the EXCEPTION, then likely you are in that group (because they all think they're the exception too). If you're not sure, then you are TRUTHFUL with yourself and may suspect both malicious and benevolent wrong influences.
Gerry makes you face SQUARELY the reasons you believe and think the way you do and objectively encourages you to re-examine your "so-called" beliefs to see if there is any real SUBSTANCE to them - as opposed to "I believe this because dad, grandpa, & uncle George do -- because they were good guys". Well, I'm sure there were lots of "good guys" that believed the world was flat. Besides pointing out WHO you are, Gerry also elaborates on WHAT you are also - and soberly brings things into alignment. This is my 3rd book by Gerry & I think you'll enjoy it as much as I did. This isn't just entertainment; it's a life-changer.
Rating:
Summary: A 'must read!'
Review: This is now the second book I've read of his. I loved the first one and doubly this one. I had mixed emotions when I read this one however. I was sad, happy and angry. Yes, it caused me to think and has been a stimulent for me to continue on my path to freedom. Thanx Gerry for the encouragement.
Rating:
Summary: Most Powerful Book I have ever read
Review: This is, indeed,the most influencial book I have ever read! It is very powerful; and do you know why? Simply because it is the truth. Do you want to hear the truth? Well, read this book!!!
Thank you Gerry Spence for letting your heart and your soul pour out when writing this book: As a reader, I could truly see inside your heart and could see exact situations happening in my life just in another form. I especially like the chapter: " withholding permission to lose." When things are not going right for some reason in my life, I think it boils down to that chapter.
I am reading the book for the second time; and I always keep it handy. It is, indeed, "An Owner's Manual for Life." You will not regret buying this book.
Rating:
Summary: Most Powerful Book I have ever read
Review: This is, indeed,the most influencial book I have ever read! It is very powerful; and do you know why? Simply because it is the truth. Do you want to hear the truth? Well, read this book!!!
Thank you Gerry Spence for letting your heart and your soul pour out when writing this book: As a reader, I could truly see inside your heart and could see exact situations happening in my life just in another form. I especially like the chapter: " withholding permission to lose." When things are not going right for some reason in my life, I think it boils down to that chapter.
I am reading the book for the second time; and I always keep it handy. It is, indeed, "An Owner's Manual for Life." You will not regret buying this book.
Rating:
Summary: This book will wake you up!
Review: This review deals with the effect Gerry's book
had on me and I hope it will inspire you to get
the book and do deep reflection. I've only read
maybe 4 books in my lifetime(50 years old) which
caused me to look deeply at my behavior,values
and attitudes as part of the global problem of
"slavery"... Yes we are all slaves to something; and only by
realizing what you are enslaved to can you begin
to experience "real freedom". My slavery like your
slavery is particularly related to "working for
someone else". While he does not recommend you
quit your job tomorrow, you still might want to
explore the nature of your enslavement... Another area explored which I like is that of "hypocrisy";
most poignant in the book, and I wonder if this is
what caused Gerry to write the book:was the experience
he had when one of the "elitist" restaurants would
not let him in with blue jeans (and to make a long
story short) Gerry ask the Maitre d if he would let Jeffrey Dahmer in with a "fine suit". I would have loved
to be there in that moment. Gerry is "real people"... Gerry's book is not another pithy self help book with
affirmations, writing exercises, dream and fantasy techniques.
No this book is deeper; if you have a sincere desire and spirit to understand what is wrong with the world ; and truly
believe in freedom , justice and equality, then this is
the book for you.... It warms my heart Gerry took the time to present us with
the deepest and most profound self help book in the world
as far as I'm concerned. You see Gerry doesn't make his
living off of writing self help books--he doesn't need the
money. I can tell he wrote this book to wake up people
to their own level of enslavement and hypocrisy. Thank you Gerry(hope to meet you in person one day)...
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