Candy for libertarians, red meat for consumers and citizens

books:

	• Myths, Lies and Downright Stupidity: Get Out the Shovel - Why Everything You Know is Wrong John Stossel Hyperion, 2007 - 320 pages average customer review:based on 241 reviews view larger image
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some parts convincing, some not

The title should also read: Why modern liberalism (diluted socialism) stinks. In addition to myths that I was expecting to learn about: cold doesn't give you a cold, we have more time than you might think, and tap water is just a good/clean as bottled water etc., Stossel's main concentration are the myths perpetuated by the media and liberals: corportations and capitalism = bad and government intervention = good. And he handles many of the myths with acuity - is global warming as dangerous as we hear? Is it really in the interest of companies to screw over their customers? Is school choice such bad thing? Stossel uses these issues to illustrate how the free market is our friend and protects us - not the government.

The downside of the book is when Stossel overreaches and attempts to debunk myths that are not understood well enough to debunk or affirm and when he argues uncharitably or does not give us enough information. For instance, one of the `myths' is changing sexual orientation. No biological evidence is given that sexual preference can't be changed. Instead Stossel relies on emotional arguments and circumstantial evidence: a `changed' man reverts back to homosexuality, former Exodus members left unchanged and emotionally scarred. I would have liked to see some more concrete evidence of this myth - I got the feeling that it was a myth more because Stossel didn't like that idea of people changing their sexual orientation (but he's willing to accept evidence that women may be intrinsically less able in the sciences).

Also, while well argued from a rational economic point of view, not enough evidence was given to convince me that women aren't paid less than men for the same work. His argument is that if women are paid less for equal work then companies would hire more women since they could pay them less. But this does not happen. Maybe, but there should be cases where equal work between men and women can be directly compared - who gets paid more?

While you can learn a lot from this short book, be wary to not accept all his conclusions without thinking them through.

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Candy for libertarians, red meat for consumers and citizens

It was a quick read, as the book is written in soundbyte-size articles on "myths" organized by broad topic. I expected the sort of consumer-oriented debunking I found in some parts, such as that New York City tap water beat out Evian and Perrier in blind taste tests, and that shopping at big box stores doesn't save most people money. However, I hadn't realized the extent of Stossel's libertarian political leanings, which showed in many more of his segments, like those on school vouchers and product liability lawsuits. While I agree with most of what he said, his sensational style and size-limited segments necessarily oversimplify some of his arguments. It's certainly overly glib to dispatch global warming in a three-minute segment, but he does do some debunking of some common misconceptions in a way that should bring it home to many and make them think. For example, he discusses the myth of the ocean levels being raised significantly by melting polar ice caps, noting that most of the ice caps are floating, and already displace the amount of water they'd fill by melting. (Think of it, Stossel analogizes, does a glass of ice water overflow when the ice melts?) He also has a nice discussion about the myth of "price gouging", an essential contribution to economic literacy 101. Overall, a nice bit of candy for libertarians and skeptics, and an eye-opening useful easy read for any consumer and citizen.

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Honestly!!!

As with all literature, it is important to form your own opinion. Unfortunately, most people on both sides of the fence would rather tell you what they think you should know and that this book it is a complete waste of time for one reason or another. Do yourself a favor . . . if you like books that make you think and look further into various subjects in search of the truth, this is a good book to read. If you are into sci-fi, history, romance, comic books etc. this is a still a good book to read. However, if you are close-minded and like to ridicule people for having an opinion other than your own, search Amazon.com for a nice Winnie the Pooh pop-up book and move on.

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Love this book!

Though I can't say I agree with everything John Stossel says in this book, he still manages to make you think and question what you believe is fact.
He writes in a very straightforward, fist-to-your-gut manner that makes this book a quick read or a fun book to flip though.
I highly recommend it to anyone who questions authority, distrusts the media and likes to research topics on their own!

Great book

John Stossel does a good job of warning us of the lies and myths being pushed in our society to-day. What he did not do, is show us how to tell when a lie is being presented to us. I guess that is for another book. Maybe I will write that one.

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

Now in paperback: The major national bestseller that the New York Times says "tosses sand on liberal sacred cows"John Stossel -- award-winning journalist, tireless consumer-rights crusader, and anchor of ABC's newsmagazine 20/20 -- has built his reputation on his willingness to debunk conventional wisdom, no matter the source. In his latest New York Times bestseller, which has sold more than 200,000 copies in hardcover, he busts the myths, lies, and downright stupidity clogging media outlets on all sides of the spectrum. Taking a shovel to the heaps of misinterpretations and outright mistakes passing for "fact" these days, Stossel proves:--That contrary to popular belief, Americans have more free time now than ever before; --How DDT could actually save millions of lives annually, if only we hadn't been wrongly convinced it caused cancer; --That Republicans don't shrink government -- they expand it; --Why bottled water is a rip-off (hint: not only doesn't it taste better than tap, it's no healthier either!); --How "defective product" lawsuits end up depriving us of safer products; --Why it's okay to marry your cousin; --And much, much more.Bursting with facts, sharp insights, and plain old common sense, Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity is a modern muckraking classic.

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