The Anti-American Manifesto
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
In arguably the most radical book published in decades, cartoonist/columnist Ted Rall has produced the book he was always meant to write: a new manifesto for an America heading toward economic and political collapse. While others mourn the damage to the postmodern American capitalist system created by the recent global economic collapse, Rall sees an opportunity. As millions of people lose their jobs and their homes, they and millions more are opening their minds to the possibility of creating a radically different form of government and economic infrastructure.
But there are dangers. As in Russia in 1991, criminals and right-wing extremists are best prepared to fill the power vacuum from a collapsing United States. The best way to stop them, Rall argues, is not collapse—but revolution. Not by other people, but by us. Not in the future, but now. While it's still possible.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Is Rall serious about launching a revolution to overthrow the government of the United States? The cartoonist describes the problems confronting America today as if they were the four horsemen of the apocalypse wars, financial crises, unemployment, and oil (spills) and revolution, even a violent one, is the only way. Rall acknowledges the chaos that typically ensues after the collapse or overthrow of an empire, saying that whatever follows will likely, for a time, be worse: "The Terror followed the French Revolution. Stalin's purges followed the Russian Revolution." When it comes to what follows, Rall, like many revolutionaries, has less to say: "We must take the chance." His revolutionary rants and belief in a green, egalitarian world are compelling, yet a stubborn truth remains: most Americans don't want to revolt, a fact about which Rall seems oblivious, making his Manifesto inadvertently ridiculous. While the cartoonist is right about much of what is wrong with America today, it's hard to take this seriously. For once, the joke's on him. Illustrations.