Why You Need to Vote!
In my opinion this is a must read for anyone even remotely interested in the future of our country! The diagrams clearly explain the subject matter as well as make it easier to remember. Despite the seriousness and amount of information in "We the People: A Call to Take Back America", the book is a breeze to read so you'll have time to finish it before election day! We the People opened my eyes beyond just the candidates. I understand now the safety measures our founding fathers wrote into the Constitution, and how far America has strayed from why the Constitution was written in the first place - to protect us, the people.
Very Well Done
Thom Hartman uses a serious comic-book style to show the danger of giving up our freedoms, mega-corporate power, and having a corporate-controlled liar like G.W. Bush as President. Hartman shows a keen understanding of danerous historical trends, particularly the Alien-and-Sedition acts of the late 1790's, and the harmful stranglehold of railroads in the late 1800's. Now we have large corporations counting our votes on non-verifiable electronic machines - can you imagine a more evil scenario? Not that the author is 100 percent. His anti-NAFTA view seems foolish, and he lays off the egotistical jerk (Ralph Nader) that put Bush in office - no matter how much Nader denies it. Still, the rest of this book makes perfect sense and is surprisingly educational.
Don't let the format fool you, there is plenty of substance in this book
Although this book is in cartoon form, and is perhaps written for young people, it very clearly lays out how our government works, step-by-step, and includes elaboration of significant developments and flaws. In spite of the simplistic and light format, it contains a substantive overview of American government, and it is worth the price of the book and the time. Get several copies and give them to your friends, and your friend's children. There is no excuse for ignorance when Thom Hartmann makes learning this easy and fun. It is by no means a place to end, but it can be a good place to start.
Entertaining and Informative
I enjoyed reading Thom Hartmann's WE THE PEOPLE: A CALL TO TAKE BACK AMERICA. The comic book style made reading interesting and fun, as Hartmann takes the reader through a brief history of the USA and exposes how our government is being hijacked by big corporations.
Neo-Conservatives might find the book leaning too far to the left, but I think Hartmann takes a centrist stand. He does a good job explaining "corporate personhood," a corporation that claims to be a person therefore entitled to legal protections like a real person, and how corporations have slowly started taking more and more control over our government.
One thing I wish he did would've been to describe certain events like the "Alien and Sedition Acts," which comes up in the book. But Hartmann does provide website addresses to find out more info.
Even though the book was written in 2004 it's still very relevant to what is going on today. The illustrations by Neil Cohn are fun too.
Concise and informative
This is a simplified version of Thom's political and historical insight. It's done in cartoon style making it entertaining and a valuable learning aid for children or even adults who can gain knowledge about our nations democracy.
