This somewhat outdated screed by a former libertarian New York T.V. host and investigative reporter on ABC’s 20/20 program provides an obviously slanted view of government regulations, that is nevertheless an interesting thought-provoking read. I found it abandoned in our mail room.
He quotes another controversial conservative figure of the same era on climate science, that of Patrick Moore, who wrote Confessions of a Greenpeace Dropout, that I reviewed a week ago. If I am not careful to balance my reading, I may be in danger of becoming a conservative!
The victim mentality comes in for particular scorn. I have some sympathy for this as I was once shown out of a hepatitis C meeting when I pointed out the folly of paying people to be ill. He points out the equal folly of FEMA’s federal flood insurance, saying it is like giving a drunk a new car when he wrecks his.
Amir Raz’s The Suggesible Brain, is an interesting counterbalance as he shows how easily we can deceive ourselves.
It is very easy to point out government overreach and senseless or even contradictory regulation. However, he takes equal delight in exposing the prevalent scamming of the public via promotion of useless cures, deceitful advertising, and monopolies, without ever acknowledging that these widespread practices are the inevitable consequences of the free market economy that he enthusiastically promotes. I am concerned that he is after all, a T.V. broadcaster without any specific training in economics. I am anxious to learn what my Ph.D. economics professor daughter thinks of this book. In the interim, I am giving it a generous
2.5/5
The Passionate Reader 