Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Book Review: "The Secret Knowledge: On the Dismantling of American Culture" by David Mamet

It's time for a book review. I've been reading lots of books and this is my political pick (at least for this month).  I'm always attracted to books where the author has experienced a change of mind or some epiphany. Here, David Mamet writes about his change of mind and heart regarding liberalism.  

David Mamet, the acclaimed playwright, screenwriter, film director and essayist, famous for such films as The Untouchables, The Verdict and Wag the Dog, has written a book which is irritating the Left. Mamet, a former leftist,  pulls no punches as he describes his daring escape from the “liberal plantation.” If some had their way, he’d be lynched for this delicious expose of the Left.

Mamet writes: ”For the Left, Government is the water in which they swim, the underlying belief of their lives. Government is not merely one of the ways in which humanity may be convened to order its various affairs (the others being Religion and the Free Market), but the only way. Liberalism is that religion, which for the Left, replaced Religion, for which the prime purpose of Government is to expand Equality, which may also be stated thus: to expand its own powers. For if Government is not only good, but the only source of good, why should it not be elaborated and empowered to address any and all issues?”

I found this book fascinating. Why would a Hollywood and Broadway icon risk his career and livelihood by writing this book which methodically eviscerates liberal beliefs? It's career suicide. He's risking his future livelihood with the publication of this expose and that gets my attention. I'm always interested in those who are willing to put everything on the line, to risk it all for what they truly believe.

He writes about how we go to college to be brainwashed by liberal and Marxist professors, and we are trained to parrot the right responses so we will get the right grade. Then, upon graduation, we realize that the only way to recapture the security that we felt in the university setting is by being part of the “accepted group.” That accepted group which gives you identity is liberalism, and as long as you buy what the Left is selling, they love you, but the minute that you start to think independently and question some of their beliefs and arguments, you are shunned and treated as a “non-person.”

Regarding liberalism, Mamet writes: “The great wickedness of Liberalism, I saw, was that those who devise the every new State Utopias, whether crooks or fools, set out to bankrupt and restrict NOT themselves, but others.
 For example, President Obama said, “The individual at some point, must be able to say, 'I have enough money." But will Mr. Obama, when he is out of office, say this of himself, and of the vast riches he will enjoy? One must doubt it.”
The sad irony is that very few liberals will read this book and even in that, Mamet is vindicated because he argues that liberalism doesn’t endorse independent thought. The Left is nothing more than a herd mentality handing out “gold stars,” “Academy Awards,” “Emmys”, “Pulitzer Prizes” and even “Nobel Prizes” to honor those who keep the faith, liberal-style.

Next post: Another book review about a man who risked it all, including going to the gallows, hung by the Nazis because of his writings, beliefs and actions.

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