The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot

One of the classic findings of contemporary Psychology is the `hopelessness/helplessness' syndrome. The idea is that once a person has become conditioned to believe that no matter what they do, the outcome will be the same, they become overwhelmed with feelings of confusion, hopelessness, helplessness and apathy. Living in North America in the twenty first century is a study of this phenomenon. I experience this sense of helpless dread and its accompanying apathy every time I turn on the TV, listen to the radio or read the newspaper to hear yet again about our continuing loss of liberties and the tragedies that ensue as a result.It was thus all the more refreshing to read Wolf's book "The End of America" and feel, much to my pleasant surprise, a rare sense of optimism at its conclusion. Using the same accessible and passionate voice that has made "The Beauty Myth" and "Misconceptions" bestsellers, Wolf eloquently argues that Americans are rapidly losing their liberties under the Bush regime and that the political tactics being used to implant these policies have historical parallels in other fascist dictatorships including Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia. Using example after example spanning from personal accounts of young jailed bloggers and peace activists to the very public crackdowns on dissidents like the Dixie chicks, to curtailing academic freedom in universities across the country, Wolf illustrates how our open, democratic society is being systemically shut down by the Bush administration.The beauty of this book, however, lies not so much in its thoroughly researched and clearly articulated thesis, but in its ability to offer an optimistic alternative to the apathy that is plaguing the young patriots that this book addresses. Reading "The End of America", although seemingly depressing at first, is enlightening in its ability to offer its own thesis as an antidote to the trajectory America is on. It is only awareness of our own history and a clear sense of what is currently happening around us that can dismantle the governmental authority that is so threatening to us now. As Wolf writes, "..the founders did not mean for powerful men and women far away from the citizens or people with their own agendas or for a class of professionals to perform the patriots' tasks, or to protect freedom. They meant for us to do it: you, me, the American who delivers your mail, the one who teaches your kids" (p.5).Wolf could not be more accurate in her statement. Psychology has taught us that the only way out of the helplessness/hopelessness cycle is by asserting control and recognizing that we have the power to change and shape our environment. In an era where nihilism and despair predominate, "The End of America" is a refreshing, accessible, passionate, timely and engaging guidebook to help us on our way.

In the aftermath of 9/11, government officials used the tragedy to subvert the Constitution and human rights. Naomi Wolf was one of those who tried to sound the alarm, but too many people were blinded by what happened on 9/11 and didn't want to think deeper.Wolf wrote this book during the last days of the Bush administration, and much of it is directed at them, and rightly so. On the eve of the Obama years, many hoped the Patriot Act and its violations would be turned back, but they weren't. The anti-war and pro-rights activists were swept aside. They were no longer needed. The voters quickly forget, distracted by left-right drama, as their rights are eroded. They think it's the other side oppressing them, but both sides have rubber-stamped, in the years since 9/11, the policies and laws that undermine democracy.This came very clear in 2020 that politicians would rather the nation thrown in chaos, our rights suspended, than lose power and control. Wolf has written about this in her books The Bodies of Others, and Facing the Beast. Like 9/11, the pandemic was another opportunity for politicians to use fear to undermine democracy. Sadly, the people let it happen. See also Humane by Moyn, and The Afghanistan Papers by Whitlock on the wars.

I never expected reading such a book. I was educated in the United States, and always looked upon the US as the ideal country for an individual's freedom of rights and free speech. You were innocent until proven guilty, and even criminals had rights that made them difficult to apprehend by the authorities. In a nutshell, I was living in a society where my friends and I, whether Americans or foreigners, felt safe and protected.According to Naomi Wolf, things have changed, and I found this shocking. Who ever thought the Soviet Union would collapse? It did. Who ever thought the US might collapse one day? I never dreamt of such a day, but many today think it is already happening, and Naomi Wolf aptly names her book, `The End of America.'I also found it shocking that she compares the present administration to Hitler's administration. Recall that Bush used to refer to Saddam Hussein as Hitler. What's going on?I actually liked Naomi's book as `a point of view' book, and the way she compares the present administration to fascist governments throughout history. In Germany, for example, Hitler slowly stripped his citizens of their rights. First, Hitler imprisoned the enemies of the state, but soon those enemies became the citizens themselves. Politicians and journalists alike were imprisoned and tortured. According to Naomi Wolf, Bush's administration is doing the same to its US citizens. People are being arrested with no trial, and without being given the reason for their arrests. A new law Bush passed allows the government to spy on its citizens. In a way, according to Wolf, all are now guilty until proven innocent, if they ever are given the chance to prove their innocence.There is now a blacklist issued by the US government, and many US politicians and journalists are on that list. Naomi Wolf is on that list. Whenever she travels by air, the security officers at the airport scrutinize her. Do they actually expect she might hijack an airplane? Whatever happened to freedom of speech and thought?The way this administration works today, explains Wolf, is that you are either with the administration or against it. Period. If you speak ill of this administration, then you are against it and immediately placed on a black list. This does not sound like the US I once knew.According to Naomi Wolf, this administration does not have any regards for the Geneva Convention on war prisoners. Prisoners are routinely tortured and ill treated by the US military. Sometimes, prisoners are flown out of US territory where torture laws are inexistent.I was quite taken aback by how many terms used by fascists states have been repeated by this administration.The following are the ten points that make up a fascist state:1. Invoke an external and internal threat or enemy, such as a political party (e.g. communist party etc.) or a religious group (in Germany it was the Jews. Today it is the Muslims).2. Establish secret prisons, such as Guantanamo and other US prisons located abroad. Prisons located outside of US territories do not fall under US laws, and thus torture can be freely exercised.3. Develop a paramilitary force. According to Wolf, the US has today the largest and most powerful mercenary army in the world, and large corporations with deep pockets back it. This mercenary army does not fall under the rules, laws, or regulations of the US military forces. They can basically commit war crimes without ever being charged! According to Wolf, dismantling such an army will be near to impossible. We'll have to see what the next US president will do about this mercenary army.4. Spy on the citizens. New bills passed by the Bush administration allow Big Brother to listen to phone conversations and read emails.5. Infiltrate citizens' groups.6. Arbitrarily detain and release citizens to instill fear.7. Target key individuals, such as politicians, scientists, and journalists.8. Control and censor the press (note: if this was really the case, why was this book allowed to be published?).9. Criticism and dissent become treason.10. Change the rule of law (changing the constitution and the bill of rights).Is this really happening to America? If so, this book should never have been allowed to be published in the first place. Or is this just the beginning? Will Naomi Wolf be eventually jailed for her book one day? If so, she would have proven her point (and God forbid that should ever happen).How much of this book is true? Either time will tell, or just more research...if you have the time, and care enough!

Naomi Wolf beschreibt in diesem Buch, das auch auf deutsch erhältlich ist, die politischen Veränderungen in Amerika seit dem Jahr 2001. Sie zeigt dabei den Zusammenhang zwischen den Ereignissen, die (leider immer noch) stattfinden, und den historischen Entwicklungen hin zu einem faschistischen System unter Stalin, Hitler und Moussolini. Das Buch ist so eindrucksvoll wie erschreckend, ausgesprochen aufwändig recherchiert, mit einer Vielzahl an Beispielen, die ihre Thesen belegen. Es ist aufrüttelnd und alarmierend. Wenn sie über die Diffamierung der Kritik als Spionage spricht und über die umfassende Überwachung der Bürger, (das Buch ist von 2008) werden die Ereignisse dieses Jahres in ihrem ganzen Umfang deutlich. Sie spricht auch an, dass wir erleben werden, wie Whistleblower des Landesverrats angeklagt und verurteilt werden - dabei beschreibt sie auch juristische Hintergünde, die überraschen.Nicht nur für Amerikanerinnen, sondern für alle Demokratinnen ein wichtiger Text, der uns deutlich macht, dass wir im Begriff stehen, unsere Freiheit aufzugeben, wenn wir uns nicht aktiver wehren. Ich habe auf meinem Blog eine sehr ausführliche Rezension geschrieben (auf deutsch). Wer gerne möchte, sucht bitte die Begriffe juna im netz und Naomi Wolf "Wie zerstört man eine Demokratie". Das sollte mein Blog anzeigen.

Easy to read and easy to follow.How the press are restricted, how surveillance of ordinary citizens is needed, how key individuals are targeted in order to create fear.How to subvert the rule of law - within a working democracy.How you need to arbitrarily detain and release citizens and infiltrate cizitens's groups.These "how to's" are taken from Stalin, Hitler and Mussolini, and then applied to today's state surveillance and database state.For anyone interested in ID cards, Police State tactics, civil rights, Secret Courts, this book is the "Blueprint" for how government and secret agencies work.

I have only just picked this up from the locker. I give it five stars. To get a Naomi Wolf book - which appear to be as good as new for less than £3 is most definitely worth five stars.

My daughter loved this xmas gift. She also found it helpful for her university course work.

As a Canadian, I regularly glance over the border at the antics of our southern cousins and occasionally shake my head in wonder. Gifted the most incredible political framework, they have more recently been willing to erode that and make the fabled false trade-off between liberty and security. What I had failed to properly appreciate is the extent to which recent activities by both the left and the right have been pulled from an old playbook. This book makes the agenda of fascist control visible and clear, and lays down a challenge for all citizens of free countries around the world to engage in their democracies and carefully tend and nurture liberty lest it be slowly and systematically smothered.The book is thoughtful and provocative, without being overly hyperbolic or alarmist, although alarm is there to be had for those who seek it. It is an urgent call to action, to bring the mechanisms of liberty to bear in its own defence. I found the style easy and readable, and the principal tool of comparing the great fascist disasters of 1900-1945 to modern times to be deftly handled (where it could easily have run into the ditch).