The Assault on Reason
Written by Al Gore
Narrated by Will Patton
4/5
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Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this audiobook
At the time George W. Bush ordered American forces to invade Iraq, 70 percent of Americans believed Saddam Hussein was linked to 9/11. Voters in Ohio, when asked by pollsters to list what stuck in their minds about the campaign, most frequently named two Bush television ads that played to fears of terrorism.
We live in an age when the thirty-second television spot is the most powerful force shaping the electorate's thinking, and America is in the hands of an administration less interested than any previous administration in sharing the truth with the citizenry. Related to this and of even greater concern is this administration's disinterest in the process by which the truth is ascertained, the tenets of fact-based reasoning-first among them an embrace of open inquiry in which unexpected and even inconvenient facts can lead to unexpected conclusions.
How did we get here? How much damage has been done to the functioning of our democracy and its role as steward of our security? Never has there been a worse time for us to lose the capacity to face the reality of our long-term challenges, from national security to the economy, from issues of health and social welfare to the environment. As The Assault on Reason shows us, we have precious little time to waste.
Gore's larger goal in this book is to explain how the public sphere itself has evolved into a place hospitable to reason's enemies, to make us more aware of the forces at work on our own minds, and to lead us to an understanding of what we can do, individually and collectively, to restore the rule of reason and safeguard our future. Drawing on a life's work in politics as well as on the work of experts across a broad range of disciplines, Al Gore has written a farsighted and powerful manifesto for clear thinking.
Al Gore
Al Gore was elected to the US House of Representatives in 1976 and the US Senate in 1984 and 1990. He was inaugurated as the 45th vice president of the United States on 20 January 1993 and served eight years. He is chairman of Generation Investment Management, a London-based firm that is focused on a new approach to Sustainable Investing. He also serves as chairman of Current, an independently owned cable and satellite television network for young people based on viewer-created content and citizen journalism. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Apple Computer, Inc., a senior advisor to Google, Inc., and a visiting professor at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
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Reviews for The Assault on Reason
354 ratings21 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The main point of this book is to rip apart the actions of the current Bush Administration. While I agree with most of what Al Gore says, there is nothing new here for anyone who keeps himself even vaguely informed. Gore's point about things we as a society need to look ahead to are very interesting, especially when it comes to the internet and upcoming changes in communication. Sadly, the target audience of Gore's ideas are not going to read his book. Overall, I am sure there are better books out there dealing with this topic.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Articulate.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Articulate.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This is the best argument I can think of for Al Gore not running for president. He's too intelligent for the job. This is an amazing book. It's not an easy read, but certainly worthwhile.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Never exciting, but a good primer on the excesses and mistakes of the Bush years.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I was never enthusiastic about Al Gore's run for the president, but this book is a must read for everyone who is concerned about the dominance of wealth in determining who gets elected and what policies and laws are enacted. Gore isn't simply decrying the influence of special interest lobbyists and big-money donors to political campaigns. He dissects the effect of the rise of "one-way" mediums (Television and radio) on political engagement and the way corporate interests gain preference over the public interest. Well worth reading, and then getting out and organizing to change the direction of our faltering republic!
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Mr. Gore discusses problems with the way government handles truth and communications and how democracy is affected. Pins his hopes on the internet. It seems that the same points are made over and over again. A bit of a ramble.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The first chapters, with their insights into why TV is having an impact on society's ability to reason were really interesting. The rest of the book focussed on the Bush administration's inability to reason. It's all interesting, valid and (frankly) appalling (how did US citizens keep voting for Bush?), I'm just not sure that his solutions match the problem... It's also hard to believe Gore won't run for the top job after reading the book - he obviously wants it bad. [Aug-07:]
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Politics as a blood sportRemember the hyperventilating Republican screeds against Bill Clinton during the latter part of his presidency? "He's a power-hungry monster" "He's a threat to our constitution" Change the names and read it again here. Some people who spend their lives in politics simply cannot see shades of gray. The world is black and white, separated between us, the good guys and them, the bad guys. Of course, the real world is more complicated than that with good guys and bad guys in all the political camps. Conspiratorial sermons on how the other side has a monopoly on sinister motives and stupidity simply won't stand up to the test of history. A few decades out, this book is going to look as shrill as the anti-Clinton books from 1998 look today.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Oh, why didn't he win in 2000?! Definitely an inspiring call to action as we have sunk into a sense of entitlement with regards to our democratic duty. This book is one of those that in addition to educating me, makes me painfully aware of how much I don't know. I did take an opportunity to reread the constitution after this. I would recommend this to anyone who has complained about our government and claimed vigilance, but has not actually done anything about it.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This is a profound book filled with frightening accounts of the history that lead up to modern politics and the recent steps our government has taken that fundamentally cripple the foundation of our Constitution.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Al Gore wrote this book to alarm and warn us that this country is being taken over by people who will do and say anything to get their way. These people do not want us to use our reasoning powers because if we did their agenda would be exposed. This book is a call to us to use our good sense and reasoning to look at everything that is being done in our name. The war in Iraq is a good example. We let our country be railroaded into this illegal and immoral war by the Bush administration who lied to us and the main stream media who did Bush's bidding. Gore gives us leadership and hope in taking back our country.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The book is incredibly thoughtful and reasonably well-written. Overall, I would have liked more optimism and focus on the internet as a new medium for two-way communication and political involvment. There was a bit of this at the end, but I wanted to hear more. I didnt' think that the points about the danger of television as a medium for reasoned debate was compelling. I also was expecially interested in the sponsorship of conferences for judges. I think this sort of pernicious and insidious work id the most dangerous attack on our system. Similarly, this administration has packed so many civil service jobs (that don't turn over with an administration change) with political appointments that I'm quite concerned about the ability of the next administration to remedy the problems across government agencies that have become prevalent during the past eight years.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The core idea of the book is that the state of political discourse in America has been compromised by such things as the lack of interaction and the sound bite effect of TV. He makes a good case, and perhaps the book will help revive citizen participation in the American polity.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gore provides thought-provoking insights into how politicians manipulate the media to further their agendas. He effectively demonstrates how the "politics of fear" can be cunningly advanced. He also shows how complex issues can be oversimplified and "sold" to a mass audience using some of the same advertising/public relations techniques that were used in prior eras to sell everything from Betty Crocker products to cigarettes. The book looks at everything from infotainment(entertainment masked as news), to the impact of media consolidations.There are dozens of revealing nuggets in this book. Sadly, "The Assault on Reason" is undermined by occasional redundancies and wordiness. Gore's book suffers from the same flaw that mars many political speeches and presidential campaigns -- it simply goes on too long!
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I picked up this book because I felt it would directly address one of the concerns I have about this administration. It seems everything is ideological, and it doesn't matter if the evidence doesn't support the plan. This is a faith-based administration. If they believe hard enough, then Iraq will be the keystone in a new chain of Middle Eastern democracies, and Tinkerbell will survive another day.I do feel, like many others, that Al Gore could have made this book half its length and not lost a bit of rhetoric. His style is extremely clear, almost to a fault. On the plus side, he pulls pieces of evidence that have been scattered across six years of this Administration into one argument citing the loss of independent media, freedom of information, and freedom of speech. On the down side, I sometimes had flashbacks to high school essays. ("This book is about X,Y & Z. Chapter 2 is about X, Chapter 3 about Y and Chapter 4 about Z.")Gore has collected a wide array of evidence and he speaks strongly about his fears for a disempowered and disheartened public, abandoning the political arena to politicians. He is not as exact as Seymour Hersch, but then again he's far more readable. Hersch explains the forest through the bryophytes on the trees. Gore just describes the canopy, which in most cases is enough.The Assault on Reason is a quick read, and an angering one. Certainly worth a read if you are experiencing flagging fury and wish to enliven yourself before the beginning of the new election.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The first couple of chapters were amazing! I really enjoyed how Gore explored the aspects of fear and psychology in overcoming our reason. I liked the section about the 3 parts our lives: reason, faith, and passion/emotion. And how fear, which would be part of passion, is so strong as to overcome our ability to reason effectively.How fear is used by governments, Bush/Cheney, and tyrants, in effective propaganda to control the people, to manufacture consent of the people. How TV is basically a harmful one-way form of communication, detrimental to a robust 2-way marketplace of ideas which is essential to a healthy democracy. Compare one-way TV to 2-way forms of communication like the printing press and the internet.At times, Gore let his left-wing politics shine through a bit too much for my taste, but overall he surprised me with his excellent writing skills and extensive research.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5First let me say that I don’t read books about U.S. politics anymore. I love to read nonfiction on just about any topic, including world politics, but I’ve given up on U.S. politics. I’ve become resigned to passive powerlessness and hopelessness.So why did I read Assault on Reason by Al Gore? I read it because I, like the vast majority of U.S. citizens today, feel strongly that the United States is going in the wrong direction and I wanted to know why. I’d heard that this book took a wise, well-reasoned, and non-biased elder statesman’s view on what was wrong and why. Naturally, I was skeptical. Before reading this book, I no more trusted Al Gore than I trusted any other politician. But unlike other politicians, I have grown to respect Gore’s active role in bringing the issues of global warming to the forefront of U.S. politics—so it must be, I reasoned, that underneath all that distasteful past impassioned political posturing, was in fact, a highly intelligent and experienced statesman with a strong moral compass. Once I picked up the book, I could honestly hardly put it down. It kept me fully intellectually engaged (and yes, even entertained!) throughout. I felt like the fog had lifted and I was finally able to see clearly where I was. I was in a country that was quickly slipping the moorings of democracy that our Founding Fathers had set so steadfastly over 230 years ago. Here was Gore, of all people, keeping me on the edge of my seat while deftly explaining, in unusually clear, statesman-like prose, what was wrong and why. Here were reasoned arguments backed up by well-researched examples and facts. I kept asking myself: Did Al Gore really write this? The prose was so articulate—it showed a true love for the beauty of well-constructed, well-reasoned argument. I was astounded. I did not know Gore had all this in him! I’m not going to summarize what Gore says in this book. Others have done that here far better than I can. What I do want to stress is that this book is not only very readable, but for this reader at least, an absolute joy to read! Whatever you think about Gore, please put that aside, pick up this book and see if you are not captivated by it after reading the first chapter. And if you finish it, see if you don’t come away with a clearer view of why we are headed in the wrong direction and what is needed from all of us to bring our government back on course.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5I had high hopes for this book, but I was ultimately disappointed by it. Though I'm normally reluctant to bother with books about contemporary politics, I was impressed enough by the excellent introduction that was printed in Time magazine that I decided to give this one a try. Unfortunately, Al Gore never really followed through on the promise of those first dozen pages though, and instead descended into exactly what I hate about such books.He starts off with a fascinating enough question. On two separate vital issues (The threat of global warming, the threat posed by Saddam Hussein), the public was successfully misled, made to believe falsehoods, and ultimately made to support the wrong choices. It would be instructive to see what parallels exist between these cases and why the public made such bad choices in both cases. So I was expecting a book that looked at the big picture: why the electorate's political decisions have seemingly become so poor in the last half century. The introduction offers some damning anecdotes which point to a root cause - what happens to our brain what we watch TV and the mathematical precision by which 30 second ads can be used to boost polls, for example.Having also identified television as a major culprit, I was looking forward to an extended discussion of how the media warps reality and distorts the public's ability to make good choices - through paid advertising, sound bites, sensationalism, etc. Although he touches on this (too lightly) in the first chapter and again in the last chapter... the middle of the book (probably 80% of it) is devoted to a diatribe against the Bush Administration.Mind you, Bush deserves every damning thing said about him, but it's just not what I was expecting when I began the book. With the television era now going on over 50 years, I'd have expected that he could have drawn from a much larger sample of modern history to show the relationship between money, ads, and political decision making. Yet Gore devoted most of the book to simply listing the many egregious wrongs of the Bush Administration. And speaking as someone with his eyes open these last seven years, I learned nothing new from these chapters.He does try to tell a consistent "story" of the Bush Administration, fitting the scandals together into an overall "assault on reason", but I felt this case was weak and lacks explanatory power. Had Gore continued along the lines of the introduction and first chapter, citing social psychological research and how it might apply to these scandal's and the electorate's reaction to them, he could have had a powerful and important book on his hands. Like I said above... disappointing.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Al Gore should have been President. He should have fought the 2000 vote into the ground and gotten a full count, but he didn't. He went into the wilderness, and came back a stronger person. He wrote an amazing Keynote presentation and turned that into an Oscar. He gave amazing, intense speeches that pulled no punches. He toyed with running for poltical office and then he wrote this book. If I were a columnist for the NY Times, I would say that it comes across snobby, hollow and an intesely self-serving argument. But I'm not David Brooks, the so-called Centrist Republican. My review is that Gore may come across as a little too plodding, a little too preachy, but it does capture your attention and his argument rings absolutely true. Gore argues that the lack of investigative journalism, the lack of literacy of the public, the misuse of propaganda and religion to cite as reasons for the decline of our democratic institutions. He ends by talking about how the Internet will make us more democratic by participating. He argues for Net neutrality, for the environment, for alternative energy, for transparency in government and for executive restraint. In the end, it might have been plodding, but it was the work of a great political mind that would have led the country into a very different place than we are right now. In fact, I seem to remember a SNL skit about just that...
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Only Al Gore could make such a distasteful subject so palatable. This is not an easy book to read, yet it certainly is well written. Several times I put it down in disgust. Even if he has engaged in a bit of hyperbole, and I desperately hope he has, Gore paints a striking picture of a republic in jeopardy, and a presidency interested primarily in the accrual of power.Is there a way for us to bail off this handcart headed for you-know-where? Al Gore believes there is. After enumerating the Bush administration’s numerous shortcomings, and outright crimes against humanity, Gore iterates a doable if difficult recipe for reversing the dangerous path we’re on. For the sake of my children, I hope he’s right. This is a must-read for anyone who plans to vote in the next U.S. presidential election.