Sam1911
Moderator Emeritus
Hi!
Has anyone read Joe Bageant's Deer Hunting With Jesus?
I got this out of the library yesterday and have started reading it now for the second time!
As sort of a disclaimer, it is a book on "America's Class War," written by an admittedly socialist-leaning journalist. It is also a very provocative and insightful book.
Chapter 4 "The Valley of the Gun" will knock your socks off. Seldom has anyone of a leftist perspective taken such a clear and powerful stand for the right of the citizen to bear arms, the truth and clarity of the Second Amendment, and the embarrassing fallacy of the Democratic viewpoint on gun ownership.
He quotes Cottrol, Kleck, Joyce Malcom, and John Lott, as well as NIJ and GAO reports on firearms uses. He pokes at the ACLU for dropping the ball as "the Rodney Dangerfield of the Bill of Rights." He tears apart GCA '86 and rips open the racist and anti-immigrant roots of the Sullivan law and NFA '34.
He derides our mid-20th-century deflection of the 2nd A. into the realm of deer and duck hunters. He quotes figures on poor, inner-city women using weapons to stop rape and assault.
This guy *GETS IT.* Oh, and he wants nationalized heath care, strong unions, an end of globalization and a lot of other stuff that many of us here would disagree strongly on.
This is a challenging book, but, I honestly believe that every one of us would benefit from reading it. I harbor no socialist leanings. That often had me angry or irritated at the directions he took. Bageant points an uncomfortable beam of light on the effects of a lot of our traditional institutions. I find this sort of social introspection to be very stimulating but occasionally hard to swallow. I applaud his work and accept his journalistic account. I do not agree with many of his implications and the conclusions that he seems to direct his reader towards, but I still value his insights and commentary. From a practical standpoint, we'd better have answers to his points because there will be increasing multitudes of voters asking the same questions and voicing the same concerns. If we drive them into the arms of the Democrats by having no valid counterpoints, we're going to lose a lot more than just face.
And, yeah, even his pro-gun chapter shines that harsh light on us as well. He writes in strong favor of the right to carry a weapon to protect yourself but also records a very uncomfortable conversation with some strongly racist dudes who also are licensed CCW permit holders. On another topic, as a former editor at "Military History Magazine" he has become disturbed with what he sees as a cult of the mechanics of killing -- he cites all the video's he was sent from the Iraq war of insurgents' heads exploding from sniper bullets, etc -- and he all-but names those of us who choose to collect and cherish military surplus weapons as members of this cult. Pretty strong words. Again, I *mostly* disagree. But I certainly have had my share of conversations with guys who were more than a little jazzed by seeing some "rag head get to his 73 virgins" or whatever over and over again on his computer screen.
I'd love to discuss this book. It is NOT a sycophantic pro-conservative hug-fest. It is also oddly compassionate and the stories are of a lot of people we all probably know. His comments and experiences can't be easily dismissed. And, in this socially and politically muddled time, many of the things he rails against -- in the name of liberalism -- are the same as many of us here have railed against in the name of conservatism...or whatever.
Somebody read this book and lets discuss it!
-Sam
Has anyone read Joe Bageant's Deer Hunting With Jesus?
I got this out of the library yesterday and have started reading it now for the second time!
As sort of a disclaimer, it is a book on "America's Class War," written by an admittedly socialist-leaning journalist. It is also a very provocative and insightful book.
Chapter 4 "The Valley of the Gun" will knock your socks off. Seldom has anyone of a leftist perspective taken such a clear and powerful stand for the right of the citizen to bear arms, the truth and clarity of the Second Amendment, and the embarrassing fallacy of the Democratic viewpoint on gun ownership.
He quotes Cottrol, Kleck, Joyce Malcom, and John Lott, as well as NIJ and GAO reports on firearms uses. He pokes at the ACLU for dropping the ball as "the Rodney Dangerfield of the Bill of Rights." He tears apart GCA '86 and rips open the racist and anti-immigrant roots of the Sullivan law and NFA '34.
He derides our mid-20th-century deflection of the 2nd A. into the realm of deer and duck hunters. He quotes figures on poor, inner-city women using weapons to stop rape and assault.
This guy *GETS IT.* Oh, and he wants nationalized heath care, strong unions, an end of globalization and a lot of other stuff that many of us here would disagree strongly on.
This is a challenging book, but, I honestly believe that every one of us would benefit from reading it. I harbor no socialist leanings. That often had me angry or irritated at the directions he took. Bageant points an uncomfortable beam of light on the effects of a lot of our traditional institutions. I find this sort of social introspection to be very stimulating but occasionally hard to swallow. I applaud his work and accept his journalistic account. I do not agree with many of his implications and the conclusions that he seems to direct his reader towards, but I still value his insights and commentary. From a practical standpoint, we'd better have answers to his points because there will be increasing multitudes of voters asking the same questions and voicing the same concerns. If we drive them into the arms of the Democrats by having no valid counterpoints, we're going to lose a lot more than just face.
And, yeah, even his pro-gun chapter shines that harsh light on us as well. He writes in strong favor of the right to carry a weapon to protect yourself but also records a very uncomfortable conversation with some strongly racist dudes who also are licensed CCW permit holders. On another topic, as a former editor at "Military History Magazine" he has become disturbed with what he sees as a cult of the mechanics of killing -- he cites all the video's he was sent from the Iraq war of insurgents' heads exploding from sniper bullets, etc -- and he all-but names those of us who choose to collect and cherish military surplus weapons as members of this cult. Pretty strong words. Again, I *mostly* disagree. But I certainly have had my share of conversations with guys who were more than a little jazzed by seeing some "rag head get to his 73 virgins" or whatever over and over again on his computer screen.
I'd love to discuss this book. It is NOT a sycophantic pro-conservative hug-fest. It is also oddly compassionate and the stories are of a lot of people we all probably know. His comments and experiences can't be easily dismissed. And, in this socially and politically muddled time, many of the things he rails against -- in the name of liberalism -- are the same as many of us here have railed against in the name of conservatism...or whatever.
Somebody read this book and lets discuss it!
-Sam