Brent Sipes

Book Report: Thom Hartmann, We the People.

1. In a Nutshell, the Book Was About:

America and modern perils to American democracy expounded in the constitution. Thom
Hartmann explores what lies at the heart of the neo-con/far right agenda. He explains that the
outrageous and dismaying policies and activities that define the far right (Bush administration
inclusive)—corporate-lackeyism, the privatization of the “Commons” and media saturation of
rightwing-nut ideologues—hinge on more, much more than just greed. His claim points to a
highly organized, deliberate, coherent, and insidious multifaceted neo-con machinery that aims
to destroy democracy as we know it. Stone by stone, this machine is installing the oppressive
brick wok of a new feudalism, a new fascism in which a corporate plutocracy has an American
style fire sale for America—few profit though. This movement hinges on the misapplied
constitutional protections for corporations being legally defined as persons. The two unfortunate
byproducts of this are: the unholy miscegenation of church, state and corporate enterprise; and
the alienation and ultimate disillusion/dissolution of the American plurality: the “we” in “We the
people.”

2. The Most Compelling Theme in the Book Was:

The “fate” of democracy still lies in the hand of the people. Though, he tempers this
affirmation by exhorting decisive and immediate action and adds that even then, change is glacial
(in a pre-carbon choked atmosphere sense). Still, the empowering notion of the real potential for
change, though participation in the political realm, reverberates throughout the work.

3. That Theme Was Important Because:

The opportunity to realign America to its roots is optimal, but it depends on the engine of
participation. Democratic participation, in turn, requires a healthy, informed and alert citizenry.
This idea is not just important it is everything. If it wasn’t, and we lived in some sort of dismal,
inevitable social-political reality—he wouldn’t have needed to write this book. Unless, this
reality already exists, and he is complicit with our neo-con overlords and this is a type of false-
hope imbuing propaganda…

4. My overall Conclusion About the Book Is:

I loved it. Had I disagreed with the message or the political slant, and I didn’t, the format
would still engage and appeal to me. Cohen and Hartmann helped me simultaneously recall
many erstwhile joyfully-lost evenings poring over comics and graphic novels, and better
understand the sinister neo-con programme for (continued) world domination. On top of this, he
offers a pragmatic approach to challenge the forces of evil augmented by a directory of how and
where to start. What’s not to like?