Finished the book. I hope a review isn’t too revealing.
1. I was more offended by his repeated appeals to stop reading because I would be offended than by what he thought was offensive. About 2/3rds of those remarks should be removed - if I already bought the book, I don’t need to be reversed-psyched to keep reading.
I’m a religious person, but that doesn’t mean I’m so tin-eared that I can’t read/hear a different POV. If him simply saying a few things that I disagree with about religion were enough to make me rebel, then I’d be a danged liberal, wouldn’t I?
2. He’s too hard on Dave Ramsey. I understand Ramsey’s point of view - and I’m a fan. I understand Baugh’s POV as well. I think a happy medium between the two would be Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad, Poor Dad. Dave is against all debt, but his focus is eliminating consumer debt. Tom is for debt as a hedge against hyperinflation, but a focus on acquiring things for survival is different than being over-extended on credit for fluff.
Dave Ramsey’s audience understands that his total attack on debt is in context of putting yourself in a position to capitalize on your ability to profit from your own work. In that, Baugh should agree - stop paying your credit masters and you stop feeding monkeys.
3. I was hoping that there would be a large section of concrete actions to take to starve the monkeys. I think it’s more a philosophical than practical guide. (I guess a real individualist can learn and move to the practical by themselves and that is part of the point.)
Things I liked:
1. The story of his arrest does put into clear context the way the system is geared against the individual.
2. I love the tweak on “subconscious” and grammar.
3. Epilogue 2, “Well, well, well. I guess we just learned something about ourselves, didn’t we?” Yes.
4. The book does spell out the real battle lines very well. Worth it to read for that alone.
Overall, it’s a good read. I recommend it and will likely buy a few copies for people I know that will get something from it.