It's hard to decide whether this book­ length rant in defense of the working­class white man

deserves a long review or no review. So I'll opt for something in between.

On the one hand, the book is peppered with numerous historical and political truths that can be

genuinely thought­provoking. On the other hand, Goad's thinking is so chock full of second rate

historical sources, straw man arguments, and false dichotomies that his conclusions usually miss

the mark. Goad argues, perhaps correctly, that class differences are the number one underlying

cause of other societal problems such as racism. But Goad can't see complexities. If class is the

number one problem, then racism just isn't a problem and people should stop whining about it. It

doesn't seem to occur to him that we live in a complex world that demands a multi­level approach

to problem solving.

Here's another odd thing about this book. Goad goes on and on about all the stereotyping and

discrimination against poor white people ("rednecks" in his terminology). Yet he spends two entire

chapters (those titled Workin' Hard and Playin' Hard), as well as parts of others, doing nothing but

re­enforcing many of the stereo types. He seems to enjoy it too!

At heart, I think this book is really a quasi­anarchical/libertarian screed. Goad hates government.

All government. Absolutely nothing good can come from government. Why? Because government

has done some bad things. And because in Goad's world it's either all or nothing, then we must

conclude that government is all bad. Goad has no apparent recognition of any positive values in

government. He repeatedly points out a worst case scenarios (straw men) and then uses them to

argue that the whole system is bad. No gray areas; nothing but false dichotomies.

If you choose to read this book, you might find that Goad occasionally hits home. But if you read

critically you will find that it is deeply flawed. The bottom line is that,the book is deeply thought

provoking, While I disagreed with much of what he had to say, there is much that he has to say

that is correct, and in that his thoughts are ultimately informed by a sense of fairness and social

equality, they deserves to be taken seriously