Day of Reckoning: How Hubris, Ideology, and Greed Are Tearing America Apart

Day of Reckoning: How Hubris, Ideology, and Greed Are Tearing America Apart | Patrick J. Buchanan | Are We Going the Way of the Roman Empire?

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Day of Reckoning: ...

	Day of Reckoning: How Hubris, Ideology, and Greed Are Tearing America Apart Patrick J. Buchanan Thomas Dunne Books, 2007 - 304 pages average customer review:based on 66 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Another excellent book from Pat Buchanan

I will admit I'm highly biased in favor of Pat Buchanan. I had the pleasure of meeting him during the 1992 campaign at Central Michigan University. I actually saw the extreme bias of the new media because they personally organized a few groups of protestors into something larger than it actually was. Shame You-Tube didn't exist then and we could have shown the media creating alternative news.

That being said I agree with Pat's latest book. Honestly, I have seen every thing he ever said come true. Pat is a little like a old fashioned country doctor who would tell his patient to stop smoking, cut down on the drinking, eat right, and exercise. So the patient bad mouths the doctor and blames him for all of their health problems. Pat Buchanan is the new messenger and people brand his as "intolerant", the modern analog of shooting the messenger.

Pat gives the most scary example in America's future by the absolute lack of an immigration policy. Lets be honest, most of the past immigrants to the USA wanted to move out of their war torn or poverty stricken nations. Most Germans, Italians, and Irish were happy to get into a land of jobs and an honest (relatively) government. But the new immigrants from Mexico love their old land and blame America mostly for the economic problems in that nation. We are in the process of seeing end game in this matter. The future President Obama will give citizenship to millions of Mexicans. To return the favor these people will push for the eventual ceding of three or four state back to Mexico. Pat has warns in his book that the unlimited immigration in the USA will eventually lead problems for this nation. You're now going to see end game and Pat Buchanan told us it would happen.

Every week you hear a story about some American factory going to Mexico or China. It is insanity that American businesses are treated like criminals in the media and by our government. Pat Buchanan gives examples of policies and biases by our leaders and politicians. We voters do nothing. And while President Bush is responsible for much of what has gone to export jobs the fact of the matter is Pat Buchanan lays much of the blame on our self serving politicians in Washington DC.

The only real trouble I see with Pat's book is he is tell us, the old believers in America, what we all have long suspected but just are absolutely powerless to stop. Pat does a great job of pointing out the problems. However, how do we stop America's decline when politicians are more interested in saving polar bears or sending mosquito nets to Africa than promoting job growth, energy independence, a sane immigration policy, and proper fiscal management of the government? Pat Buchanan identifies all of these problems. I just don't know how you get politicians to follow Pat's advise. That's the rub of this book. Pat is just like that old country doctor. He tells you what is wrong with the country. He tells you what must be done to fix the problems. And you know that there is no way that the majority of this nation will listen to what he says no matter regarding the wisdom of his advise.

Still, for "ye olde American" this is a highly enjoyable and thought provolking book. Who knows? Perhaps a political party will follow this advise.

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Are We Going the Way of the Roman Empire?

In the book _Day of Reckoning: How Hubris, Ideology, and Greed Are Tearing America Apart_, published in 2007, political pundit and former presidential candidate Patrick Buchanan presents a gloomy picture of America's decline from a once vibrant republic to an ailing empire. Buchanan's philosophy is fundamentally ultra-conservative and populist however he has been active in revealing the sham neoconservatives for what they truly are as false conservatives. Buchanan is also staunchly anti-war and has opposed the endless interventions called for by the neoconservatives under the Bush regime. In fact, as he argues persuasively in this book, when nations overreach themselves by meddling in the affairs of other nations, the results are disastrous. Some have attempted to smear Buchanan as an "isolationist" for this reason; however, his arguments are sound and reveal a disturbing fact about the nature and decline of American empire. The elite however simply do not want to hear these hard facts and have pushed America further and further down the road to decline.

This book begins with a discussion of "How nations perish". Buchanan argues forcefully that nations perish by over-extending themselves in war. Buchanan notes how various nations around the world have entered a period of decline and how an emerging New World Order threatens the very sovereignty of all earthly nations. Buchanan also shows how declining birth-rates threaten nations and in particular how declining birth-rates combined with an influx of foreign immigration (much of it illegal) threatens the very foundation of the United States. Buchanan is unafraid to bring up the taboo topic of race, arguing in effect that racial distinctions remain important and that a politically correct emphasis on racial diversity is killing America. Buchanan also shows how the culture war is being lost by traditionalists, thus eroding the fundamental underpinning and foundation of the nation. Buchanan then discusses the end of the Pax Americana, showing how the American century is coming to a close. Buchanan maintains that with each subsequent war, beginning with the Civil War, World War I, and World War II, America has created a situation whereby the republic has become severely damaged. Buchanan then turns to the idea of the end of a unipolar world. Buchanan traces the hubris of the Bush II regime following the events of September 11, showing how Bush II was converted to neoconism and ended up becoming a proponent of worldwide democracy. Dreams of a New World Order (clearly aired by Bush I in fact), caused Bush under the guidance of the neocons to invade Iraq and thus began the debacle that has played out in that war. Buchanan argues that far from being a conservative notion, belief in a universal democracy and an erosion of the nations is in fact rooted in Marxist revolution and that perhaps it is best to think of the neoconservatives as the new Jacobins. Buchanan then shows how America has entered a period of imperial overstretch brought about by those who dream of American empire. This overstretch has sunk the U.S. in endless debt and threatens to be the downfall of the United States as a nation. Buchanan also questions who the future belongs to. Buchanan considers arguments for an Islamic future for example, but finds some of these problematic. Buchanan also considers the possibility of an Asian future (under the control of the Chinese) finding such arguments more convincing. Buchanan also considers the possibility of a European future, but shows that Europe has become so severely weakened that such a notion is severely undercut, or the possibility of a second American century. Buchanan then considers the possibility of a world government, showing how a North American Union is being foisted upon the United States through supposed "free trade" agreements in hopes of ultimately achieving a world government. However, as Buchanan shows such a possibility will be disastrous and will demand a staid uniformity amongst all nations, thus completely destroying the notion of national sovereignty. Following this, Buchanan shows how America (and Christianity) has been "deconstructed" by politically correct elites. Buchanan takes the stance of a fierce culture warrior, arguing that such political correctness will be the downfall of the nation. Through such weakening doctrines and through an influx of illegal aliens, the national foundation has been undermined. Buchanan shows that what has made America great is no more, with politically correct elites seeking to deconstruct and undermine that fundamental truth. Next, Buchanan turns to a discussion of free trade showing how free trade agreements have harmed America. Buchanan supports the system of the German economist Friedrich List which amounts to a scientific system of protectionist tariffs which List argued were necessary to protect the American colonies. Buchanan shows for example how China is quietly winning a trade war against the United States, but that through a simple system of tariffs this influx of goods produced through Chinese slave labor could be corrected. Buchanan also shows how huge multi-national corporations are effectively raping the system. Buchanan makes some good arguments here showing that with the loss of their benefits, workers will demand more government action. Thus one can see that with the "corporate welfare state" destroyed, there will be calls to further the powers of the welfare state. An example of this occurs in the health care crisis and the calls for "universal health care". Thus, Buchanan argues any libertarian should see the damage done through the supposed "free trade" agreements. Buchanan also shows how larger sections of the United States have become foreign owned, showing how various toll roads for example or American ports are now owned by foreign nations. Such foreign ownership is a sure sign that America is in trouble given the fact that national sovereignty is threatened. Buchanan ends this book by showing how in effect the day of reckoning is at hand for the United States. With an out of control national debt, America ensnared in a unwinnable war (with eyes towards Iran and even further), and an influx of illegals combined with a declining birth-rate for European Americans, the situation looks extremely grim. What is necessary to be done remains problematic, and certainly the upcoming election offers few genuine choices for the American patriot!

This book serves as a timely warning to the United States that we must mend our ways before it is too late. Ultimately the situation presented here does not look good for traditionalists who see the United States threatened by an ever growing New World Order. Indeed, the oblivious elite are reaping the benefits from such a thing while the American nation and empire enters its death throes.

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A courageous critique

This is a concise, well-written and timely book. Buchanan does not pretend to have all the answers but he has the courage to point out the betrayals of America by its leaders and citizens.

The breadth of Buchanan's scholarship and the depth of his experience make his call an important one to heed. America need not collapse into a 3rd-world country of debtors. Buchanan is no muckraker. Here are some of his suggestions:

1) End wars and treaties that have us "inflicting" democracy on peoples incapable of living in one.
2) Recognize that while all people may be created equal they do not develop equally and other countries must work out their own destinies.
3) Secure the southern border of the United States and demand the deportation of all illegal immigrants.
4)Undermine the Supreme and other courts ruling by fiat and start taking control of our own destiny again via states rights.
5)Finally, it would seem that nothing less than courageous leadership will be necessary to undercut the global corporations ruining our economy with free trade and an impending North American Union that will dissolve the borders of our country and the republic.

Buchanan is making an eloquent call to the true conservative; the citizen who truly believes America is worth not just preserving but resurrecting. Ultimately it is up to us. The citizenry must stand up to preserve what is left of the American ideal; the American dream. Buchanan points out that we stopped an insane amnesty bill for illegal immigrants and we can stop the madness inflicted on us by neoconservatives and the Bush administration.

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Great Overview and Repeat

This is my first read on Pat Buchanan's work and he makes a great broad stroke review of how America is in the position of looking over the cliff and ready to jump. He has it absolutely correct on how Republican party has degraded thanks to catalyst of 9/11 and the hubris that swept the bosses of the party which led to the same ideological faults of Lincoln, Wilson, FDR and Johnson. He pounded the reasons over and over to the point where I wanted to get off of this merry-go-round and move on to how we can break free of the direction the country is heading in. When I got to the end, he does show how America will jump off the cliff and disintegrate as another me-too empire but left me wondering how anybody can reverse this cycle. The last chapter just seem to cut it short. I know he pounds out a book in record time and is rehashing the same point but where is the next chapter? The next book can't be in '09.

His points on immigration and strengthening our troops by returning home are tough pills for most swallow and I am one of them that believes we need to take the medicine. But medicine always tastes bad but is needed to cure the ideological ills that swept the Republican party and this nation away from the original intent of this country, to follow the constitution. Where I break from Buchanan is his Hamiltonian, anti-free trade ideas. Sure we have to shore up our trade debt, bring industries back to the U.S. and stop believing that we can consume or spend our way back into prosperity. Buchanan's ideas fall short and did not prove his point that free trade would be failure just as our crap GATT/WTO/CAFTA/NAFTA anti-free trade agreements are not working. It is going to take a paradigm shift, culture change on a grander scale than how Buchanan portrays putting America First by putting greater pressures on existing agreements.

Overall, great history lesson, a great take of how we got here but stopped short on what the Day of Reckoning would really look like or how we can get out of it.

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Day of Reckoning: How Hubris, Ideology, and Greed Are Tearing America Apart

Interesting book but lots of obvious inaccuracies, baseless assumptions and a helluva lot of weird skewed logic that leads writer to some stupid conclusions. It's good to get all kinds of perspectives, but this guy has so many prejudices the reader won't get beyond this pre-set group of notions and assumptions.

reviews: 1, 2, page 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

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