Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #107364 in Books
• Published on: 2003-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

Synopsis
Examines how special interest groups suppress the right to free speech by attempting to silence anyone whose opinions do not conform with their agendas.

Customer Reviews

A thoroughly good read
If you have ever thought that something isn't right, then read this.

I would normally run a mile from the idea of reading a liberal, feminist pro-choice author's book, you can imagine it being the usual anti-male rant.

But...it isn't. Actually it is very readable, very eye opening, and Tammy Bruce is the sort of feminist I could support quite happily.

Like Chuck D, Tammy is more pro-her cause that anti-everything else. She is pro-female, pro feminine empowerment, but not at the sake of demolishing men.

If Ann Coulter is the extreme Conservative, then Tammy Bruce is the voice of reason. She points out the obvious questions that we have all wanted to ask, but knew that we would be shouted down by the liberal extremists.

If you have questions start here, it is very easy to read.

Blair's Thought Police
Not long before 7/7 the government was planning to outlaw hatred of religious groups, a move based on the perception that the Muslim community - or should that be communities? - were victims of said hatred.
Presumably Salmon Rushdie's 'Satanic Verses' would be proscribed under such legislation?

Last year the BBC showed a documentary in which a member of the BNP stated the he would like to "machine gun" Moslems as they came out of the local mosque.

So we have two extremes: the Moslem fighting against the decadent West, and a member of the BNP who, presumably, has a rather higher opinion of Adolf Hitler than the rest of us.

This is the importance of this book: the argument that if an opinion is dangerous, it must be suppressed.

As the author rightly argues, the suppression of opinions is now a major plank in what passes for thinking on the left.

And nowhere is this more relevant than in the left's obsession with "multiculturalism".

People who are uncomfortable with this concept - probably a majority - know to keep quiet.

Diversity - pluralism - is a normal feature of an open society.

Multiculturalism, however, is something different. As the author puts it, it seeks " to shield non-European cultures from moral judgements. In the mind of today's multiculturalist, the cultural practices of minority groups are above reproach, no matter where they lead."

And we have seen where they sometimes lead on this side of the pond. There was the African boy whose body was found in the River Thames. His injuries - and death - were the result of witchcraft practices imported from Nigeria.

Many years ago, my next door neighbour sent his daughter back to a Middle Eastern country to an arranged marriage which she did not want.

These are examples of practices which multiculturalism dare not debate, and similar examples are given in this book.

The Thought Police in the UK are active in an unlikely area: criminology. As in the US, there is silence on the matter of black crime statistics. It's inviting a charge of racism to even mention - as the author does - that "the crime statistics speak for themeslves. ... Although African American men constitute only six per cent of the overall population, they account for roughly 40 per cent of the country's violent crimes."

Police officers in the UK who have made similar statements have come to regret it. After 7/7 there was talk of the police "targetting" young Moslems. This was instantly stamped on. Of course white old ladies were just as likely to blow themselves up on the Underground, how could you have thought anything else?!

The difficulty posed when facts are suppressed, is that rational discussion of why young black men are more likely to be involved in violent crime goes off the agenda.

The left undulges in a kind of Christian Science approach to human affairs. The Christian Scientist believes that if you are ill you can think yourself well - by reading Science and Health - because illness is the result of bad thinking, and Mary Baker Eddy's book will correct your thoughts.

So, for the left, thinking that someone is a criminal makes them a criminal: they are the victim of your bad thoughts.

The left's delusional thinking is ultimately an indiaction of its deep seated wish to return to the comforts a closed-society where "I think" has been abolished. It is a victory for Hitler, Stalin, and the Inquisition: someone else knows best.

Exposing the agenda of the Saurons amongst us
Tammy Bruce explores the disturbing rise of the Thought Police that tries to silence individual opinion. They operate through the media, special-interest groups and the power elite that uses perpetual victimhood combined with speech and thought control to gain and hold power. This is even more destructive when it is done by the Left, the political wing that claims to be the protector of free speech and personal liberty.

The author writes from the belly of the beast, so to speak, as she was president of the LA chapter of the National Organisation for Women and experienced these activities at first hand. At the heart of Thought Police activity is the argument that certain types of speech and the expression of certain opinions hurt certain groups and as a result should be restricted. The explicit message comes in the form of politically correct speech codes while implicitly the message is to remain silent when the virtual assassination of those who oppose the Left's status quo takes place, as in the case of Dr. Laura Schlessinger.

Bruce shares her unique experiences on the inside of a social movement and dispels the myth that only the Left's prevailing opinions are valid. She encourages the reader to think for herself/himself and to bravely explore their own opinions and conclusions about significant and controversial social issues. The book is an appeal for reclaiming ourselves and our culture from the self-appointed Kommissars.

She deals with the evolution of political correctness and its speech codes, contrasting the difference between the Lockean ideal of classical liberalism and today's Left, while exposing the hidden socialist sympathies of feminists like Betty Friedan and others. She demonstrates how the Left has become a mind control cult with the sole purpose of perpetuating itself. Her investigation of the concept of "hate crimes" is astute and enlightening as is her analysis of Groupthink.

Her writing is engaging and often humorous, as in the chapter in multiculturalism which she calls "the individuals. She also shines a piercing light on the double standards in the news media, the entertainment industry and academia, with reference to the disgusting book American Psycho and the OJ Simpson case.

The book ends on an optimistic note with example of successful social activism that was meant to empower and achieved great results and a section on the power of the individual to adhere to sound values and morals. The book concludes with copious notes, a thorough index and a bibliography that includes Hannah Arendt, Andrea Dworkin, Aldous Huxley and George Orwell.

Other must-read books of related interest include In Defense Of Global Capitalism by Johan Norberg, The New Anti-Semitism by Phyllis Chesler, Tales From The Left Coast by James L. Hirsen, The Vision Of The Anointed by Thomas Sowell and Treason by Ann Coulter.