The Ten Things You Can't Say in America

by Larry Elder

Book Overview

From Rush Limbaugh to Howard Stern, America tunes in to its radio hosts both on the air and between covers, accepting them as truth-tellers without agendas, the perfect gadflies for the age of too much information. In an era where everyone seems bought and paid for, they cut through it all to tell it like it is. For Fall 2000 - just in time to enter the fray for the presidential election season-St. Martin's is happy to present the most unfettered...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 031226660X
• ISBN13: 9780312266608
• Release Date: September 2000
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.5" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Good author, good book, but rough around the edges. Needs more focus and less ranting.

I only recently discovered Larry Elder and saw him as very insightful. I don't think this book (which is 20 years old - a detail I failed to realize when I ordered it) captures Larry as the articulate and persuasive man he is today. I really like Larry Elder. He pulls no punches, says what he means, and doesn't care who is offended by a conversation. This book is a good sample of Larry Elder and his perspectives, but I find it a little light on data. It's like Larry has so much to say, he doesn't slow down enough to go over his reasons. Consequently this comes across more like a Bernie Sanders book only on the opposite side of the political spectrum. Valid complaints and observations, but too much anecdote. It feels like the book was written for people who are already on the authors side of the fight.

Excellent but not for anyone with a closed mind

As a libertarian I was thrilled to find this book. Months ago I couldn't have even told you who Larry Elder is. The radio stations in my neck of the woods do not carry Elder's program so I didn't know anything about Elder when I bought this book. I read the blurb, thought it sounded interesting and read it with an open mind. I wasn't prepared to agree with 99 if not 100 percent of what I read but that's what happened. But as a caveat let me again reiterate that this book is NOT for anyone with a closed mind. If you are so entrenched in certain religious and/or political beliefs that you cannot read someone else's ideas without becoming enraged then do not even waste your money. For those of you with more maturity, this is a great buy.Elder's 10 contentions are simple but loaded: Blacks are more racist than whites, white condescension is as bad as black racism, the media bias is real, widespread and destructive, the glass ceiling is full of holes, America's greatest problem is illegitimacy, there is no health-care crisis, America's welfare state is tyranny of the statist quo, there's maybe a dime's worth of difference between Republicans and Democrats, the war on drugs is a losing battle and gun control advocates are good guys with blood on their hands. I can just see many of you reading this and gasping with horror at those statements. But before you condemn Elder as someone who loathes himself, acts white, subscribes to radical political ideas and/or has no sense of practicality, look closer. How many times during, say, one week can you turn on your TV and see one of the "victicrats" Elder describes crying about some evil he/she faced and how the government *owes* it to everyone to write a law about said evil? How many news reports can you hear of celebrities with drug problems and the status of America's war on drugs? In response the media will talk to Republicans and Democrats about their reactions and, at the end of the day, there will be little difference in the answers they give. And if you turn on even one talk show during the day you will see paternity tests being administered on behalf of women who don't even know for sure who the fathers of their babies are! Yes, illegitimacy is a big problem in America but will you ever hear a politically correct talk show host say so? Of course not. They will blame promiscuity on low self-esteem and poverty instead of telling the truth-- people just don't want to take responsibility for themselves anymore. This extends to our failing war on drugs. People would rather believe that the government ought to fight the drug war because it's "right" or because they don't think crackheads will work at legitimate jobs to buy drugs or they think that drug use will reach epidemic levels if drugs are legalized or they think that the streets won't be safe. Reality check, folks-- drugs are illegal and we have problems with gang and street violence now. As Elder points out, alcohol consumption actually fell after Pr

Elder - Seeing What Assumptions Stand Up to Scrutiny.

---This is a book that is much needed to provide the proper perspective for so many hot issues in today's political climate.Society has come to accept a number of assumptions, which become the basis of discussion for these hot issues. Many of these assumptions are erroneous, and the result is that the discussions are destined to produce results that are not relevant or useful.Larry Elder has a genius for challenging and exploding some of these underlying assumptions.Examples:Why discuss white racism, when black racism is not acknowledged or even allowed to be entered into the discussion?Why discuss the "glass ceiling" for women, when the issue of preparation and "paying of dues" is not a part of the discussion?Why discuss gun control when the positive effects of an armed populace are not recognized in terms of preventing crime, and lowering crime rates?Elder has a genius for stating his points, and making them clear in a way that is easy to read. His writing is never convoluted or hard to follow. (And actually very hard to argue against.)Elder has a genius for picking the most important topics and related points that need to be made - at the present time - as far as their overall impact on society.Elder has a genius for cutting through the emotional arguments that grab so many individuals on a superficial level, but which do not stand up to intellectual and objective scrutiny.The serious and objective seeker of what should be accepted as given and true, cannot afford to miss reading this book!---

Larry Elder Let The Common Sense Genie Out Of The Bottle!

Larry Elder is not called the "sage of south central" for nothing. If every American would open their minds instead of letting media and political bias sway their decisions we would have a new country inside of a month. In this book, Larry Elder shows in a very convincing and forthright way that although we live in the the country with the most freedom, we are relying more and more on a government which has no interest at all in seeing us free, and in many cases, seeks to enslave us and make us dependent.This book is a real eye-opener and will have you thinking hard for some time after you read it. Some parts, particularly the chapter on legalization of drugs and how our "drug war" has failed will surely raise controversy and that is a good thing. Americans need to think and rethink their positions on issues instead of allowing those with their own vested interests to make up their minds for them. If you believe that you can run your own life and affairs and that the money you make should remain in your own hands and that it is arrogance in the least and tyranny in the most for a government to tell you otherwise or make decisions about your life without your consent, then this book is for you. Larry Elder presents the evidence that we as Americans have been duped and conned into believing things that just aren't true.This is a book well worth the money and you can't walk away from it without being challenged, enlightened, and informed.

AMUSING AND ENTERTAINING!

I never heard this radio talk show host. This is the first time I have read his words or reviewed his work. He makes Joan Rivers' dialogues and Bill O'Reilly's opinions seem as fluffy and soft as cotton candy. Dynamic, terse, over flowing with facts, Larry Elder invites debate. Among the issues, the "things you can't say in America", that he dares to explore are racism, drugs, the glass ceiling,politics and the destructive media. If you read this book, you're in for a very different perspective. Underneath the searing glass of this authors microscope are Orrin Hatch, Ted Kennedy, Bill Clinton, Jesse Jackson, Gloria Allred, Dick Morris, The Los Angeles Times, Spider-Man Comics, Johnnie Cochran, O.J. Simpson, Al Gore, George Bush, Ross Perot, welfare, NAFTA, Sister Connie Driscoll and her partner, Sister Theresa O'Sullivan, just to mention a few. After a surprised gasp at this author's outrageous audacity, you will probably laugh then enter the debate. The book awakens your sense of inquiry and zeal for answers to the issues of today. Move over Joan and Bill, Larry Elders is on the move. Amusing and entertaining.

Excellent Intro to Libertarian Ideas!

Larry Elder is a courageous individual, a black man who challenges the Democrat/left establishment of Jesse Jackson, Maxine Waters et al. on his radio program, in print and as a guest on numerous TV talk shows. Elder points out the irony that many so called black leaders who tell us that affirmative action is still needed in employment and education and that racism is holding black people down are themselves individuals who obtained success by working hard and staying focused. Elder echoes self help guru Tony Robbins', who tells us that if you want to succeed in life, study successful people and do the same things that they did to achieve success. Instead, Elder laments that too many black Americans are poisoned by rhetoric that tells them the deck is stacked against them. Elder provides an interesting personal anecdote in his meeting with a black computer consultant in a gym locker room. The consultant complained that his client base was cities that had black mayors. When Elder told him that he was a recruiter for law firms and corporations, the consultant assumed that he specialized in minority attorneys and was surprised that Elder had white clients. The black consultant assumed that he could never succeed in marketing his services to whites and therefore never tried. His limitations were self imposed.But The Ten Things You Can't Say is not just a black libertarian/conservative's view on racial issues. Elder covers a variety of topics such as gun control, welfare, health care and the War on Drugs. The chapter on the so called health care crisis was especially good, with Elder ably pointing out how the AMA is artificially restricting the supply of doctors and the ludicrousness of regulations that prevent nurses and other medical paraprofessionals from doing tasks that they know how to do, thus raising the cost of health care. This is also the first book I ever read which called the Marshall Plan's success a myth.The Ten Things You Can't Say is a quick read, largely because Elder writes like he talks and uses simple down to earth language to get his points across. When reading this book, I couldn't help but hear his voice in my head. This book is bound to offend doctrinaire liberals, who will probably retort by saying something like "In Elder's world, there is no racism and sexism. It is all our imagination." If you have an open mind on the topics covered by Elder, this book will challenge your assumptions. The closed minded will prefer to keep this book...well...closed.My only quibble with this book is that Elder's editor missed a few typos. On page 119, district attorney's is compressed into one word "distrtorney's" and on pg. 247 Congressman George Miller is referred to as "Democratic California republican George Miller" rather than "Democratic California congressman George Miller". I also believe that Sher Hosonko, who he refers to on pg. 266 is really Sher Horosko. Hopefully the