Derailing Democracy: The America the Media Don't Want You to See
by David McGowan
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Book Summary Information
Author: David McGowanEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2000-03-01
ISBN: 1567511848
Number of pages: 234
Publisher: Common Courage Press
Book Reviews of Derailing Democracy: The America the Media Don't Want You to See
Book Review: Derailing Democracy By David McGowan: A Review
Summary: 5 Stars
When I read the synopsis of this book on the back cover I instantly knew this book would be interesting. Just as the title states this book is derailing democracy, sending it head over heels. Democracy would be an excellent form of government. Having the right to vote people into office instead of them just being appointed. All of the citizens having his or her own voice to change things for the better. In theory this sounds like the only truly fair and just government. When we think of the beautiful land we call the U.S.A we instantly associate it with freedom and justice for all with every man created equal. Derailing democracy shows the darker side and the price we pay for this "freedom". Whether it be giving the Taliban three million dollars in the 1980's, or basically hiring Saddam Huessien to wipe out Iran. Ironically many of the weapons that are killing the American soldiers now are either the left over landmines they planted decades ago or the weapons and ammunition they gave to Saddam and his men. But obviously the people of this country would not vote to give our enemies weapons to kill our other enemies, it doesn't make sense. What David McGowan shows us is that there are many ways to get around the whole democracy idea. For example the government tries to "market" the bill they want passed as something that will benefit the general public. For example McGowan writes, "You may have noticed that many of the motorists you see pulled over on the side of the highway are black or Hispanic. You may have attributed to this to some kind of unspoken law-enforcement racism. You may be surprised to learn that it's the result of a federal program. Called Operation Pipeline" Page 1
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(McGowan 69).
Another example could be tax hikes to fund "anti-terrorism", with the majority of the money actually going to fund the bombing in Kosovo and Iraq. In 1997 President Bill Clinton said to the American public, with no emotion, that they were dropping serious amounts of bombs onto the city of Kosovo. No more than an hour later he was on the news again, with deep shame and sympathy, to alert the public about the shooting at Columbine High School. The man felt more emotion for the small few who perished in the high school as compared to the small catastrophe he was creating overseas. But McGowan shows us that to the Government deaths are all just numbers, and death won't stand in the way of conquering a weaker country. And that's basically what it all comes down to, we're stronger than you and you have something that is valuable to us, so we're going to beat you up and take it. Yeah, make sure to get their lunch money too.
Another area of study in this book is racial issues, mostly within the judicial system. An interesting fact stated in this book says that "approximately 80% of the young black men under age 35 have a criminal record" (70). I am immersed in this urban culture daily and I definitely don't believe that 80 per cent of the African Americans I see have done anything to deserve a criminal record. "Blacks and whites in the U.S.A. are the victims of murder in almost equal numbers, yet 82 per cent of prisoners executed since 1977 were convicted of the murder of a white person...Blacks make up just 12 per cent of the country's population, but 42 per cent of the nation's condemned prisoners. In early 1998, of the 26 people under federal sentence of death (military and civilian), only five prisoners were white" (72). According to these facts it becomes more and more
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clear to me that we as a country are still in the same old mindset that we were over 50 years ago. No matter what anyone says our government is still racially bias to white people. I don't believe that even a quarter of the citizens of this country are racist. If we have all power and control of our democratic government then why is the government racist and we are not? Perhaps the people who are racist have just fallen under the subliminal propaganda of the racist government.
With all of the anti-drug propaganda it would surprise you to hear that "In 1996, the San Jose Mercury News ignited a firestorm of protest when it ran a series of articles by investigative journalist Gary Webb that seemed to provide substantial evidence of U.S. government complicity in drug trafficking. In an effort to circumvent a congressional ban and provide illegal funding for the Nicaraguan Contras, the CIA had, it was alleged, allowed and even assisted the trafficking of massive amounts of cocaine into this country" (104). With all of the anti-drug commercials I was under the impression that the government wanted to stop drug use, not encourage it. But I suppose it did help out the economy. And who knows, maybe because the government sold drugs your taxes didn't rise.
In conclusion David McGowan doesn't try to mince words here. He clearly states many facts that he has collected from different sources. All of which are documented and respected. I believe that if every American would just read a few of the facts something good could happen. Basically McGowan states that this democracy is starting to look more and more like a hypocrisy, resorting to tactics normally reserved for dictatorships. Lets face it, politicians lie, McGowan just points that out. He never once
Page 4
tries to force his views, he instead encourages freedom of thought.
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