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Outsiders
Curated collection of the best previously published articles from the former Labor Leader Mark Latham. Articles about political correctness; feminism; Big Brother; Donald Trump; Brexit; the biggest problem with Islam; rise of the Outsiders; gender fluidity; a divided nation, and many more. Mark Latham is the original Outsider, a politician who rose to the very top of his profession but refused to be cowed by political correctness and refused to bend his knee to the leftist fads of the day. Outsiders is a thoughtfully curated collection of Mark’s previously-published articles and thoughts on topics ranging from political correctness to Islam, Donald Trump and Brexit. Not only a superb raconteur, Mark writes as he speaks — with honesty, extraordinary insights and above all a razor sharp wit and deep love for Australian larrikinism. If you can’t get enough of having your virtue signalled, of having your politics determined by your identity, of saying the appropriate things to show how compassionate and caring you are, of being trigger warned about being offended by unsafe words and ideas, then avoid this book like a dose of the bubonic plague.
- GenresNonfiction
192 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2018
5 people want to read
About the author
Mark Latham
23 books5 followersMark William Latham, a former Australian politician, was leader of the Federal Parliamentary Australian Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition from December 2003 to January 2005.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 4, 2021
What a waste of paper this was. Being a conservative, my inclination has always been to like Mr Latham - he hosted the Milo Yiannopoulos event I attended in Sydney, he has always been a thorn in the side of the establishment politicians, he loathes political correctness. Hell, before I was old enough to care about politics, I thought he seemed okay when he was running to be Australia's Prime Minister. I figured I would enjoy this book in the same way that I enjoyed Milo's Dangerous. Rather, it was equally as bad as Mark Dice's abysmal cash-grab Liberalism: Find a Cure.
Largely I would agree with what Latham rants about throughout this book - merely a copy-and-paste of his columns from the Daily Telegraph - however even I found much of his attitude did the conservative movement no justice at all. When his crude and insulting simplifications about gender quotas (I don't like them either, but there's no reason to be needlessly disrespectful about it), his randomly specific attacks on individuals or certain businesses, as if he just picks these singular issues up from rants with his mates at the BBQ, and the continuously regurgitated phrases and similes he keeps spewing up, he gets to sound like a broken record.
The structure and format was terrible. No text justification. No paragraphs, but rather groups of two or three lines throughout. This isn't a book to be taken seriously. It really is, I think, like he had his secretary retrieve his impotent rants from his USB, paste into a single document then release as an official book for fathers to get from their well-meaning sons at Christmas which they will never read and will eventually give to Vinnies or something. (Where do you think I got this copy?). All it is, is Latham taking pot-shots at people that have annoyed him, and more often than not, he just comes across as a nasty piece of shit. Only two of many low moments that turned me right off him were when he harassed the staff at a public swimming pool in Auburn (a suburb of Sydney with a predominantly Muslim demographic) for having a veil across the pool, so that the men and women could be segregated, as is customary to the Islamic value of pubic modesty. Elsewhere, on the subject of Bill Clinton's famous Lewinski affair, he blames Hillary, pondering what sort of woman she must be that Bill decided to seek sexual pleasure elsewhere. An absolute asshole of a thing to say.
To reiterate, I generally though certainly not always share Latham's position in regards to identity politics and PC culture. His attitude and the scope he employs in this book, however, completely undermines any earnest conservative or liberal who strives for civil discourse. As my wife said (she read this with me), "he's just peddling hatred here". This isn't a good book because I can't see how it would do anything but serve as fodder for the morons who want to believe all right-wingers are racist, sexist bigots. I ain't saying Latham is any of those things, but he certainly makes no effort not to appear so here.
Largely I would agree with what Latham rants about throughout this book - merely a copy-and-paste of his columns from the Daily Telegraph - however even I found much of his attitude did the conservative movement no justice at all. When his crude and insulting simplifications about gender quotas (I don't like them either, but there's no reason to be needlessly disrespectful about it), his randomly specific attacks on individuals or certain businesses, as if he just picks these singular issues up from rants with his mates at the BBQ, and the continuously regurgitated phrases and similes he keeps spewing up, he gets to sound like a broken record.
The structure and format was terrible. No text justification. No paragraphs, but rather groups of two or three lines throughout. This isn't a book to be taken seriously. It really is, I think, like he had his secretary retrieve his impotent rants from his USB, paste into a single document then release as an official book for fathers to get from their well-meaning sons at Christmas which they will never read and will eventually give to Vinnies or something. (Where do you think I got this copy?). All it is, is Latham taking pot-shots at people that have annoyed him, and more often than not, he just comes across as a nasty piece of shit. Only two of many low moments that turned me right off him were when he harassed the staff at a public swimming pool in Auburn (a suburb of Sydney with a predominantly Muslim demographic) for having a veil across the pool, so that the men and women could be segregated, as is customary to the Islamic value of pubic modesty. Elsewhere, on the subject of Bill Clinton's famous Lewinski affair, he blames Hillary, pondering what sort of woman she must be that Bill decided to seek sexual pleasure elsewhere. An absolute asshole of a thing to say.
To reiterate, I generally though certainly not always share Latham's position in regards to identity politics and PC culture. His attitude and the scope he employs in this book, however, completely undermines any earnest conservative or liberal who strives for civil discourse. As my wife said (she read this with me), "he's just peddling hatred here". This isn't a good book because I can't see how it would do anything but serve as fodder for the morons who want to believe all right-wingers are racist, sexist bigots. I ain't saying Latham is any of those things, but he certainly makes no effort not to appear so here.
February 24, 2018
Mark Latham is a very intelligent man with a great sense of community, a wonderful sense of humour and on point with his view of current politics.
November 4, 2019
This is a very important book, but not for the reasons the writer intended. It demonstrates the toxicity of much of the right wing, and how simplistic their worldview can be. The lecture at the end is insightful, and I would agree with most of it. But what it reveals is the in-authenticity of his Daily Telegraph writing, which patronises the under-educated, peddling hated and division. He should know better, and not seek seek fame by exploiting the populist disenfranchisement of the working class.
September 3, 2020
Some stuff made sense, some stuff just sounded wildly unfeasible
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews