P. J. O'Rourke on the Wealth of Nations (Books That Changed the World)
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P. J. O'Rourke on the Wealth of Nations (Books That Changed the World) Customer Reviews
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♥♥♥♥♥
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This is NOT Cliff's Notes, It's Jokes And Wide Brush Strokes
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The surfeit of reviews complaining about the author's insights and accuracy in summarizing "Wealth Of Nations" has finally spurred me to post my own review, which I'll also crib, right up front:
It's jokes, people! Jokes from a guy you know is libertarian! It's not Cliff's Notes!
If you have a conservative slant to your politics, you'll love the jokes about how fruitless central economic planning, government-run corporation and labor unions prove.
If you have a liberal slant to your politics, you'll love the jokes that point out how dumb it is for governments to try to control people's behaviors, when simple selfishness will generally do the trick.
But whatever your slant, if you have a term paper due on Adam Smith, don't use this as source! "Wealth of Nations" was huge. Its thoughts draw directly from other huge books Smith wrote, which you must also read to fully understand the man (which O'Rourke freely admits in the book, repeatedly).
Nothing in this book is erected to portray it as an authoritative summary of "Wealth." The author and publisher clearly tell you that, again, it's jokes, people: jokes from someone who is well-known as acerbic, contrary and cranky; jokes from someone whose political viewpoint cannot be more readily exposed.
If you don't like free markets, fine. If you hate "conservatives," fine. If you hold 120 postgraduate degrees in economics and the Adam Smith Distinguished Chair In Annoying Minutiae at Ivy League University, fine.
That doesn't change the fact that your reviews bemoaning the accuracy of this book or the interpretations of the author are sophisms, because, again:
It's jokes, people! Jokes from a guy you know is libertarian! It's not Cliff's Notes! |
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