The Best Democracy Money Can Buy
by Greg Palast
On This Page
Description
An investigative journalist provides an expose of intrigue, financial misdeeds, and other machinations at the highest level of American politics.Tags
Recommendations
Member Recommendations
Member Reviews
This book started out strong for me with the chapter on how the 2000 Presidential election was stolen in Florida. He makes a compelling case for tens of thousands of voters being deleted.
However, as the book went on, I was suprised to find myself quite bored. First off, it wasn't a compelling read. Second and more importantly, for a book with these allegations, the fact that it had no notes and references I found troublesome. Palast constantly says "here is a reproduction of xyz document" but it is not a photo of it, but a representation. I also could have done without that hedgy tactic, if he had endnotes.
It was enough where I was turned off of the book. I read a third of it.
Having said that, I did flag a few quotes:
"Mary Frances show more Berry, chairperson of the US Civil Rights Commission, said the real horror of the 2000 election was not the vote count that so transfixed our media, but what she calls "the noncount"- the means of keeping citizens from voting or having their votes counted."
"I reported these stories from Europe, where simple minds think that the appropriate response to the discovery that the wrong man took office would be to remove him from that office."
Two other presidential elections were nearly stolen in the year 2000, in Peru and Yugoslavia. How ironic that in those nations, though not in the US, the voters' will ultimately counted. Peruvians and Yugoslavs took to heart Martin Luther King's admonition that rights are never given, only asserted. They knew: When the unelected seize the presidential palaces, democrats must seize the streets.
[Former TExas AGriculture Commissioner Jim Hightower]: They've eliminated the middleman. THe corporations don't have to lobby the government anymore. THey are the government." Hightower used to complain about Monsanto's lobbying the secretary of agriculture. Today, Monsanto executive Ann Veneman is the Secretary of Agriculture.
"I want my fair share, and that's all of it"-- attributed to Charles Koch
Now lets count the corpses. From 1950 to 1980, socialist and welfare statist policies added more than a decade of life expectancy to virtually every nation on the planet. From 1980 to today, life under structural assitance [IMF/World Bank] has gotten brutish and decidedly shorter. Since 1985, in 15 African nations the total number of illiterate people has risen and life expectancy fallen ... In the former Soviet states, life expectancy has fallen off a cliff--adding 1.4 million a year to the death rate in Russia alone." show less
However, as the book went on, I was suprised to find myself quite bored. First off, it wasn't a compelling read. Second and more importantly, for a book with these allegations, the fact that it had no notes and references I found troublesome. Palast constantly says "here is a reproduction of xyz document" but it is not a photo of it, but a representation. I also could have done without that hedgy tactic, if he had endnotes.
It was enough where I was turned off of the book. I read a third of it.
Having said that, I did flag a few quotes:
"Mary Frances show more Berry, chairperson of the US Civil Rights Commission, said the real horror of the 2000 election was not the vote count that so transfixed our media, but what she calls "the noncount"- the means of keeping citizens from voting or having their votes counted."
"I reported these stories from Europe, where simple minds think that the appropriate response to the discovery that the wrong man took office would be to remove him from that office."
Two other presidential elections were nearly stolen in the year 2000, in Peru and Yugoslavia. How ironic that in those nations, though not in the US, the voters' will ultimately counted. Peruvians and Yugoslavs took to heart Martin Luther King's admonition that rights are never given, only asserted. They knew: When the unelected seize the presidential palaces, democrats must seize the streets.
[Former TExas AGriculture Commissioner Jim Hightower]: They've eliminated the middleman. THe corporations don't have to lobby the government anymore. THey are the government." Hightower used to complain about Monsanto's lobbying the secretary of agriculture. Today, Monsanto executive Ann Veneman is the Secretary of Agriculture.
"I want my fair share, and that's all of it"-- attributed to Charles Koch
Now lets count the corpses. From 1950 to 1980, socialist and welfare statist policies added more than a decade of life expectancy to virtually every nation on the planet. From 1980 to today, life under structural assitance [IMF/World Bank] has gotten brutish and decidedly shorter. Since 1985, in 15 African nations the total number of illiterate people has risen and life expectancy fallen ... In the former Soviet states, life expectancy has fallen off a cliff--adding 1.4 million a year to the death rate in Russia alone." show less
Palast is an American journalist with an annoying wiseass sense of humor, but better defined by his hardass devotion to journalistic investigation with a left wing agenda. This book collects and connects his articles exposing the crimes of globalization, corporate corruption, and sell-outs in the United States and British governments. The book – assuming that what he writes is true or even partially true – inspires depression over the sad state of affairs while at the same time an enduring hope in that there are those that are willing to fight.
“It is estimated that one in eight American adults have worked at McDonald’s. This acts as kind of moral instruction for the working class, as jail time does for ghetto residents. It is show more one reason behind America’s low unemployment rate. As my old professor Milton Friedman taught me, unemployment falls when workers give up hope of higher pay.” (p. 78)
“It would be a mistake to view the politics of emptiness – in which ideals and beliefs are suspect – as a New Labour invention. Blair, Cardoso of Brazil, Frei of Chile, are all products of the factory that manufactured Bill Clinton, all bionic election machines who, in Medelsohn’s words, are ‘not ideologically constrained.’ LLM’s manifesto dismisses ‘leaders who lead’ as antique creatures of The Passing World. Today, markets lead. Industry CEOs lead. In the Emerging World, prime ministers and presidents LISTEN. Without the restraints of conviction, they are free to respond to requests of the powerful while shifting their media images as the public mood demands.” (p. 170) show less
“It is estimated that one in eight American adults have worked at McDonald’s. This acts as kind of moral instruction for the working class, as jail time does for ghetto residents. It is show more one reason behind America’s low unemployment rate. As my old professor Milton Friedman taught me, unemployment falls when workers give up hope of higher pay.” (p. 78)
“It would be a mistake to view the politics of emptiness – in which ideals and beliefs are suspect – as a New Labour invention. Blair, Cardoso of Brazil, Frei of Chile, are all products of the factory that manufactured Bill Clinton, all bionic election machines who, in Medelsohn’s words, are ‘not ideologically constrained.’ LLM’s manifesto dismisses ‘leaders who lead’ as antique creatures of The Passing World. Today, markets lead. Industry CEOs lead. In the Emerging World, prime ministers and presidents LISTEN. Without the restraints of conviction, they are free to respond to requests of the powerful while shifting their media images as the public mood demands.” (p. 170) show less
Every chapter of this book left me feeling more and more depressed. I was happy to get to the next to the last page and read, 'I've got a stack of letters that read, "Your book is depressing." True, but only if you put your hands in your pockets, look at your shoes and whistle. You can shut the book and use the binding to scratch your nether parts or you can do something. Read, learn, join, holler, act. Sue something....If not, then don't come crying to me; I don't have time for the corporate abuse enablers....'The appendix that follows has lots of resources for action. I don't know about you, but I'm starting today.
Whether one believes Katherine Harris’s claim that Palast’s conclusions are "twisted and maniacally partisan" or Tribune Magazine’s declaration that he is "the greatest investigative reporter of our time," one thing is plain: Palast does not shy away from controversy. This collection of reports touches on a number of familiar topics, including Enron, the presidential election of 2000 and the Bush family’s purported connection to Saudi Arabia. These issues have been explored in more depth by other authors, but what makes this audiobook so entertaining is its all-star anti-administration cast, including Al Franken, Janeane Garofalo and Jim Hightower. All of the readings are well-executed, but the full plate of narrators can cause show more confusion. It’s unclear how the text is divided up amongst the readers, and at any moment, a new chapter may begin with a new, unidentified voice. Despite the guessing-game nature of the audio presentation, this is still a fun, provocative listen show less
I was aware of some political scientists associating the American as opposed to the British political system with inherent corruption, because of personality cult rather than party discipline. This book pins down both!
Ratings
Members
- Recently Added By
Lists
LT picks: Blue Books
197 works; 39 members
Blue Books
20 works; 1 member
Author Information
19+ Works 2,127 Members
Greg Palast's undercover reports and his "Inside Corporate America" column in the Observer have won him Britain's top prizes for investigative and business journalism as well as the Financial Times David Thomas Prize. Salon.com chose his scandal-busting report on the presidential race in Florida "Political Story of the Year" and his writings have show more appeared in the Washington Post, Harper's and The Nation. Greg Palast divides his time between New York and London. show less
Work Relationships
Has the adaptation
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 2002
- People/Characters
- Floyd Abrams; Kenneth Adams; Madeleine Albright; Nancy Alexander; Mohammed Al Khilewi; Salvador Allende (show all 371); Roger Alton; LaNell Anderson; Manny Aragon; John Ashcroft; Hank Asher; Bruce Babbitt; James Baker III; Kathleen Baker; Will Baker; Abdulah Bakhash; Ed Balls; Hugo Banzer; Maude Barlow; Ben Barnes; Antony Barnett; Juan Barreto; Oscar Barrios; James R. Bath; Khalifa Ahmad Bazelya; Margaret Beckett; Mary Francis Berry; Benazir Bhutto; Abdullah bin Laden; Omar bin Laden; Osama bin Laden; Salim bin Laden; Khalid bin Mahfour; Teel Bivins; Viking Bjork; Helen Blackwell; Morton Blackwell; Tony Blair; Earlene Blake; Christopher Bond; David Bositis; Richard Branson; Lewis Bredow; Martin Bright; Wayne Brinkley; Leon Brittan; Samuel Brittan; Tom Brokaw; Cedric Brown; Gordon Brown; Norman O. Brown; George Bruder; Patrick J. Buchanan; Tanzania Bulyanhulu; George H. Bush; George H. W. Bush; Jeb Bush; Neil Bush; Prescott Bush; Miguel Bustamante Madriz; David Butler; David Russell Butler Jr.; Bob Butterworth; Charles Calomiris; Alastair Campbell; Starlet Cannon; Janet Catabelli; Mariah Carey; Frank Carlucci; Pedro Carmona; Jimmy Carter; William J. Casey; Domingo Cavallo; Hugo Chávez; Martin Fagan; Pepe Fanjul; Daniel Fessler; Janet Finn; Frank Fisher; Gerald Ford; Eduardo Frei; Milton Friedman; Thomas Friedman; Ralph Garcia; Bill Gates; Melinda Gates; Harold Geneen; Anthony Giddens; Gary Gilman; Newt Gingrich; Allen Ginsberg; Carlo Giuliani; Rudy Giuliani; David Glass; Phyllis Glazer; Arthur Goldberg; Bernard Goldberg; Ron Goldstein; George Gordaoff; Al Gore; Boyden Gray; Alan Greenspan; Carol Griffin; Clifford Groh; Andy Groh; Andrew Hackett; Charles Hamel; Steve Hanke; Michael Hansen; Arnold Harberger; Katherine Harris; Mark Hatcher; Margaret Haydon; Tawanna Hayes; Joe Hazelwood; Richard Helms; James Hermiller; Randall Higginbotham; Sean Higginbotham; Jim Hightower; Beverly Hill; Christopher Hitchens; Adolf Hitler; Wu Hongda; Jerome Horowitz; Jacob Horton; Philip K. Howard; Linda Howell; Arianna Huffington; Mike Huffington; Mark Hull; Saddam Hussein; Will Hutton; Sam Insull; Pam Iorio; Michael Isikoff; Bernardo Issel; Andrew Jackson; John Fitzgerald Jackson; Johnny Jackson Jr.; Thomas James; Klaus Janberg; Thomas Jefferson; Thomas Johnson; Maude Jones; Meirion Jones; Vernon Jordan; Rana Kabbani; A. Q. Kahn; Iftikhar Kahn-Chaudhry; Janet Keels; John Kemp-Welch; Donald M. Kendall; Robert F. Kennedy; John F. Kennedy; Stephen Kerr; John Maynard Keynes; Adnan Khashoggi; Rich Kinder; Martin Luther King, Jr.; Henry Kissinger; Charles G. Koch; David Koch; Fred Koch; Horst Kohler; Nikolas Kompkoff; Paul Kompkoff; Ted Koppel; Lee Koppelman; Edward Malcolm Korry; David Kowalczyk; Ray Kroc; Anne Krueger; James Howard Kunstler; Robert Kuttner; Vincent Kvasnikoff; Sally Kvasnikoff Ash; Art Laffer; Pascal Lamy; Ken Langone; Edward Laumann; Ben Laurance; Neal Lawson; Kenneth Lay; James Lee; Matthew Lee; David Leigh; Steve Letbetter; Elaine Levenson; Monica Lewinsky; Roger Liddle; Judy Liebert; Carl Lindner; Daryl Lindsey; Tundu Lissu; Stephen Littlechild; Lawrence Littwin; Liz Lloyd; Trent Lott; Jamie Love; Amory Lovins; Ben Lucas; Paul Lukasiak; Adolf Lundin; Jeffrey Manza; Karl Marx; Mark Mauer; Nicholas Mayernik; Sherrie Mayernik; John McCain; John McCone; Maurice McDonald; Richard McDonald; Wallace McDonald; Cynthia McKinney; Mark McKinnon; Cisco McSorley; Jon Mendelsohn; Carlos Menem; Dave Miliband; Ed Miliband; Margaret Miller; Karl Milner; Lord Milner; Bucky Mitchell; Hiroaki Mitsuya; Mobutu Sese Seko; Jim Bob Moffett; Alicia Montgomery; Reverend Sun Myung Moon; Lisa Moonan; Stephen Moore; Stanley Morgan; Dick Morris; Sandra Mortham; Janet Mudrow; Brian Mulroney; Peter Munk; Greg Munson; Rupert Murdoch; Daniel Murphy; William Musa; Perver Musharraf; Ralph Nader; George Nelson; Agnes Nichols; Don Nickles; Richard M. Nixon; Abdul Latif Nizamani; Geoff Norris; Randall Oliphant; Oscar Olivera; Greg O'Neill; Paul O'Neill; Jerrold Oppenheim; Bob Ortega; David Pallister; Jaime Pasamora; William Paterson; Kenneth Payne; Adolfo Perez Esquivel; Augusto Pinochet; Theo Polasek; Pedro Pou; Jonathan Powell; John Prescott; Vladimir Putin; Philip Randall; Dan Rather; Gilbert Regaldo; Linda Regaldo; Robert Reich; Harry Reid; John Rex; Ann Richards; Len Ritter; Clayton Roberts; A. Willis Robertson; Pat Robertson; Geoffrey Robinson; David Rockefeller; Ali Rodriguez; Zhu Rongji; Franklin Delano Roosevelt; Etta Rosado; James Rose; Frank Rosen; Robin Ross; Karl Rove; Dave Ruppe; Alan Rusbridger; Eddie Sadlowski; Howard Safir; Lord Sainsbury; Ignazio Salvatierra; Ion Sancho; Carlos Santillan; Thomas Saporito; Jacob Schaulsohn; Danny Schecter; Rene Schneider; Amartya Sen; Robert Shapiro; Tim Sharp; David Shayler; Anjali Sheffrin; George Shultz; Oliver Shykles; Glenn Simpson; Bill Sizemore; Chuck Smith; Dee Smith; Patrick Smith; Guy Snowdon; Danuta Soderman Pfeiffer; Samuel Soria; Mary Spink; Michael Springmann; Lenora Stewart; Joseph Stiglitz; Suharto; Lawrence Summers; Peter Sutherland; Mark Swedlund; Michael Taylor; Rodolfo Terragno; Hunter Thompson; Terry Thorn; Marlene Thorogood; Bob Torricelli; Charles Totemoff; Joe Trento; Philip Uzielli; Arturo Vasquez; Ann Venamin; Anibal Veron; John Verrall; Javier Vial; Neil Volder; Lord John Wakeham; David Walker; Troy Walker; George Wallace; Lori Wallach; Ed Wallis; Sam Walton; Nick Weber; Vin Weber; William Webster; Fredda Weinberg; Casper Weinberger; Stuart Weir; Mark Weisbrot; Jack Welch; Willie D. Whiting; Willie J. Whiting; Michael Wildes; Roger Williams; Pete Wilson; Peter Windsor; James Wolfensohn; Edward Wolff; Carl Wood; James Woodle; Sam Wyly; Daphne Wysham; Boris Yeltsin; Anthony York; Andrew Young; Dr. Dre; Robert Zoellick
- Important places
- Alachua County, Florida, USA; Argentina; Bolivia; Botswana; Brazil; Buenos Aires, Argentina (show all 27); Gadsden County, Florida, USA; Hamilton County, Florida, USA; Hillsborough County, Florida, USA; Hudson Falls, New York, USA; Indonesia; Jackson County, Florida, USA; Kerala, India; Leon County, Florida, USA; Los Angeles, California, USA; Miami-Dade County, Florida, USA; Orange County, Florida, USA; Paco County, Florida, USA; Rhodesia; Santa Rosa County, Florida, USA; Sarasota County, Florida, USA; Tanzania; Thailand; Venezuela; Volusia County, Florida, USA; Washington, D.C., USA; Washington County, Florida, USA
- Important events
- Exxon-Valdez; Kyoto Protocol; Operation Blessing; Opium Wars; September 11 Attacks
- Dedication
- For Linda Levy, whose work is here plagiarized without mercy
- First words
- In the days following the presidential election, there were so many stories of African Americans erased from voter rolls you might think they were targeted by some kind of racial computer program.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)But, for the sake of this sorry planet, tell the truth on 'em.
- Blurbers
- Hightower, Jim; Harris, Katherine
Classifications
- Genres
- Nonfiction, General Nonfiction, Politics and Government, Business, History
- DDC/MDS
- 364.1323 — Society, government, & culture Social problems and social services Crime Criminal offenses Political and related offenses Offenses against proper government Corruption
- LCC
- JF1081 .P35 — Political Science Political institutions and public administration Political institutions and public administration General. Comparative government Political rights. Political participation
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 1,190
- Popularity
- 21,033
- Reviews
- 5
- Rating
- (3.86)
- Languages
- 8 — English, Italian, Korean, Norwegian (Bokmål), Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 21
- UPCs
- 1
- ASINs
- 11