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Don't Read Before a Blood Pressure Check-up, April 2, 2012
A Nation of Moochers: America's Addiction to Getting Something f..
A Nation of Moochers: America's Addiction to Getting Something for NothingThis book didn't tell me much that I didn't already know but having it in black and white, one chapter after the other is a very distressing commentary about the condition our nation is in. Fortunately, the chapters have sub-divisions that allow you to read smaller portions and briefer time frames. Otherwise you will get so upset it will likely raise your blood pressure. Corporate bail-outs, welfare, TARP, flood insurance abuses, green subsidies,school breakfast lunch and dinner programs, mortgage foreclosures. It is all there. As a conservative, I wanted this to be an indictment of the liberal manifesto, however, Sykes properly points out that many of these programs have endured throughout numerous presidential administrations....democrat and republican alike. Although another reviewer claims that the author has a right wing slant, Sykes discusses some policies that have been in place almost since FDR. He does not go easy on the right. But whether you are liberal or conservative,...
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| Author: Kathy Edens (Springfield.. | This book didn't tell me much that I didn't already know but having it in black and white, one chapter after the other is a very distressing commentary about the condition our nation is in. Fortunately, the chapters have sub-divisions that allow you to read smaller portions and briefer time frames. Otherwise you will get so upset it will likely raise your blood pressure. Corporate bail-outs, welfare, TARP, flood insurance abuses, green subsidies,school breakfast lunch and dinner programs, mortgage foreclosures. It is all there. As a conservative, I wanted this to be an indictment of the liberal manifesto, however, Sykes properly points out that many of these programs have endured throughout numerous presidential administrations....democrat and republican alike. Although another reviewer claims that the author has a right wing slant, Sykes discusses some policies that have been in place almost since FDR. He does not go easy on the right. But whether you are liberal or conservative,... | 11 | |
| Author: LD (Colorado) - See all.. | Parents who grew up during the Depression and WWII were always saying that they did not want their children to be deprived like they were. Dr. Spock's theories were timely for changing the ideas about discipline and beginning the "lets reason with the upset child and talk to him/her as if we are addressing an adult." Opponents issued warnings that spoiled, selfish children would become materialistic, ego-driven adults without self discipline. What used to be called character would disappear.Well Sykes is taking a close look at how those children and their offspring turned out. He sees 2 very different cultures today. He refers to one as traditional or conservative that believes in principles. An example would be that a person buys what they can afford and are willing to be satisfied. The second group thinks that if you want it, you are entitled to have it, which means it is a right, and if no one will just give it to you, then the government is obligated to provide it free... | 14 | |
| Author: Book Fanatic - See all .. | When I picked up this book I was afraid it was going to be a tirade against what we traditionally think of as the welfare state - aid to the poor. However, I was pleasantly surprised by Sykes's book. Yes, he does address the traditional welfare underclass in the first part of the book, but the vast majority of the book and its major argument is that a mooching culture is becoming entrenched in every economic class. He seems particularly upset with the mooching of corporations and the middle and upper classes.The front jacket contains this description: "Sykes's argument is not against compassion or legitimate charity, but distinguishes between definable needs and the moocher culture, in which self-reliance and personal responsibility have given way to mass grasping after entitlements, tax breaks, benefits, bailouts, and other forms of feeding at the public trough. Persuasively argued and wryly entertaining, 'A Nation of Moochers' is a rallying cry for Americans who are... | 11 | |
