A Nation of Moochers
America's Addiction to Getting Something for Nothing
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3.6 • 68 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
We have experienced a shift in American character: we've become a nation of moochers. Increasingly dependent on the efforts of others over our own, Americans are free to freeload. From the corporate bailouts on Wall Street to the alarming increases in personal default and dependency, from questionable tax exemptions to enormous pension, healthcare, and other entitlement costs, the new moocher culture cuts across lines of class, race, and private and public sectors. And the millions that plan and behave sensibly, only to bail out the profligate? They're angry.
Charles Sykes' argument is not against compassion or legitimate charity, but targets the new moocher culture, in which self-reliance and personal responsibility have given way to mass grasping after handouts. A Nation of Moochers is a persuasively argued and entertaining rallying cry for Americans who are tired of playing by the rules and paying for those who don't.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Sykes (A Nation of Victims) argues that hardworking, tax-paying Americans are being turned into the nation's piggy bank by freeloading "moochers," both individual and corporate, who have given in to a culture of dependence and free lunch. He lays all this squarely at the feet of "elite" liberals, whose "Assumption of Incompetence" the default position of assuming that most Americans are incapable and thus must be cared for has cultivated an atmosphere where people are no longer required to fend for themselves. He points to Katrina victims misusing benefits, homeowners who walk away from underwater mortgages, unemployment benefits fraudsters, adult children living with their parents, big businesses accepting bailouts, and, somewhat less persuasively, food stamps and free school lunches. Though he doesn't make an especially strong case that "Obamacare" is to blame, his argument is sobering: we've set up a system in which dependency begins at birth and extends through people's entire lives, which has brought us to a tipping point in which more Americans are relying on the efforts of others rather than their own. Interestingly, his cure is less systemic than social: he suggests "dismantling Moocher Nation" by restoring some of the stigma of accepting a handout. Though at times verging on the purely mean-spirited (recall the school lunches), his call for a return to personal responsibility is on point and persuasive.
Customer Reviews
Buy your Liberal friends this book.
Mandatory reading before any election!
Must Read
Eye opening!!!!!!
YES
Why aren't we teaching this in school?