Arguing with Socialists

by Glenn Beck

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The New York Times bestselling author of The Great Reset arms you to the teeth with information necessary to debunk the socialist arguments that have once again become popular, and proves that the free market is the only way to go.With his trademark humor, Beck lampoons the resurgence of this bankrupt leftist philosophy with thousands of stories, facts, arguments and easy-to-understand graphics for anyone who is willing to ask the hard questions. He shows that this new shiny socialism is just the same as the old a costly and dangerous failure that leaves desperation, poverty, and bodies in its wake.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, Economics, History, Audiobook, Government, Philosophy

416 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 7, 2020

About the author

Glenn Edward Lee Beck is one of America's leading radio and television personalities. His quick wit, candid opinions and engaging personality have made The Glenn Beck Program the third highest rated radio program in America and Glenn Beck, one of the most successful new shows on the Fox News Channel. His unique blend of modern-day storytelling and insightful views on current events allowed him to achieve the extraordinary feat of having #1 New York Times bestsellers in both fiction and non-fiction. Beck also stars in a live stage show and is the publisher of Fusion magazine.

Online, he is the editor of GlennBeck.com and the publisher of TheBlaze.com.

Beck is the author of six consecutive #1 New York Times Bestsellers including his latest book, the thriller The Overton Window. When The Christmas Sweater, his first novel, debuted at #1 on the fiction list, Beck became one of a handful of authors to write books that reached #1 on both the fiction and non-fiction NYT lists.

Reviews

[Amora · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is full of quotations from Hayek, Mises, Sowell, Rand, and Friedman and it’s quite good. If you enjoyed Glenn Beck’s other books like Arguing with Idiots you’ll certainly enjoy this one. Beck arms the reader to the teeth against socialist arguments against capitalism with humor, statistics, and history. Beck shows how everywhere socialism has been tried the result has been famines, death squads, curtailing of civil liberties, and environmental destruction. A solid read for everyone that wants to know the truth about socialism and understand why it always leads to misery.

[Alan C. Farmer]

Hilarious yet enlightening. Kills socialism with kindness and humor.

Well paved and funny, especially use of characters representing the left. Good to see as well him highlighting the connection between capitalism and freedom as well as highlighting the difference between real capitalism and crony capitalism. Must reading for every high school and college student, as well as the "the Bernie bros."

[Jim Keating · Rating 5 out of 5]

With all the glorification of "democratic" socialist going around today, Beck shoots down every so-called justification/argument in favor of this oppressive governing philosophy. The truth about every aspect of socialism is exposed in this book and it should scare all of us that we are even having a discussion in the U.S. Where it's been tried, in every instance, it has failed miserably and resulted in poverty and death. Don't be deceived. Somehow Beck is able to lead the reader through the book with an engaging format with humor. It's actually very entertaining and so informative. Highly recommend for millennials particularly.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stuff comes from stuff. There’s no free lunch. Capitalism isn’t perfect but socialism has NEVER worked. More freedom, please! Socialism can kiss my butt.

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The left is infatuated with the failed and inferior idea of socialism. Thankfully in response there have been several great books coming out to counter this infatuation. Whatever your feelings are towards socialism, facts just don't lie in regards to how bad it is. It always leads to the loss of economic and personal freedoms. Individual rights, a founding principle of America, has to go by the wayside for the "collective" good. The scary thing is American socialist want to grant the state the power to decide what the standard of good will be.

The author delivers well on it's title. Literally arguing with socialist. The striking thing is no matter how well you reason with socialist they only double down as if in some kind of cognitive dissidence. Creatively the author even speaks to a fictional ghost, but I won't spoil it by telling you who it is. This book was well reasoned and creatively fun. I recommend it, especially to the young people infatuated with this alien idea.

[Alex H Neal · Rating 1 out of 5]

As a librarian capitalist I expected to like this book. When I got it I was expecting a very good read from all of the positive reviews; unfortunately I was wrong. This book is just a collection of strawman arguments and logical fallacies. Not to mention at one point it compared Bernie sanders, a center left politician (at least compared to global Politics) to Che Guevara a radical Leninist-Marxist extremist.

[Tom Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes Glen Beck comes across as a doomsday prophet with his endorsements of buying gold and food insurance. But his skill in dismantling the socialist justification for change in this country is unmatched. No one with any common sense could read this book and not reassess their desire to have Bernie Sanders lead this country. The rest of the world seems to have learned this lesson the hard way, so you would think we would be smart enough to know there is no “better way” to make socialism work.

[The Book Distiller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an excellent book. Beck breaks down every aspect of socialist countries and recalls history throughout the ages. If you ever have an inclination that socialism is the best for a country, read/listen to this, and see the oppressive socialist societies throughout history. While the American experiment of capitalism isn’t perfect, it is the best model for offering the most freedoms for its people. And we all want to be free, right?!

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great perspectives on socialism.
Listened on Overdrive.

[Greg Fellin · Rating 5 out of 5]

NO SPOILERS!

I loved this book. Jammed packed with facts & figures from both sides.

Before reading this book, I read the one star reviews by others who are quite clearly those who never read this book, don't know how to follow up on checking on facts, or are quite clearly the same Socialists this book helps you Argue with. Although arguing really seems to be a major waste of time. Arming yourself with facts, like those in this book, will help you when talking to those who are unsure & want to see the truth about the myth called "Socialism"!

[Ktmholm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Socialists have long been telling us that all human problems can be solved by centralizing power in the hands of “experts,” rather than letting a free-market economy do its job. Beck examines the socialist arguments, pointing out (in a nutshell) that the more centralized an authority, the easier for it to become inefficient, wasteful, and corrupt. Secondly, once you take away an individual’s self-interests, that person has no incentive to work harder, innovate, or be careful with other peoples’ money. He touches on “Medicare for All,” the Green New Deal and “minimum wage madness,” examines the failures of past socialist societies, and discusses the myth of “socialist Scandinavia” in an easy-to-understand style, complete with colorful graphics and cartoon characters. A valuable read for anyone interested in the direction that this country seems to be headed.

[Christian McCarren · Rating 4 out of 5]

A subject I really didn’t know much about but I certainly do now! I really expected this book to be all opinion but it’s actually just facts that are all cited and researched extremely methodically. At times I was overwhelmed because there would be a lot of statistics and numbers flying my way but he gets his point across in the end.

[Britton]

I didn't even have to read this book, seeing the cover art already told me that this is going to be an oversimplified, fear mongering piece of conservative propaganda. Pass.

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative and entertaining, Beck gives a history and description of socialism in all of its attempted forms and explains with many examples why each have failed and led to great harm to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Examples include why the Scandinavian countries are not socialist, socialism and the climate-change power grab and Green New Deal, and the historic benefits and blessings of capitalism. Also included are socialist proponents' arguments for socialistic programs and efforts with careful rebuttals to each and every one. Timely and important in an era when socialism is all the rage, this book gives a clear-headed view as to where socialism has been and where it might take us should we choose to follow its dangerous path.
A few thoughts:
- Helpful definitions (Ch. 3):
'capitalism'- an economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods by investments that are determined by private decision and by prices, production, and distribution of goods that are determined mainly by competition in a free market.
'socialism'- an economic system in which property (incl. the means of production and distribution) is collectively owned and managed, and wealth is distributed to people according to their needs, not their desires, thus effectively removing decision-making by individuals.
'communism'- one of several different socialist systems. This theory may be summed up as "abolition of private property."

- There has never been a country attempting to adopt a truly socialist model that has also maintained a commitment to individual rights. Eventually the majority dismantles the rights of the minority, often by empowering a small, powerful group to rule over the rest of society as a representative of the collective. (Ch. 3)
- "The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings. The inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries." Winston Churchill (Ch. 4)
- The earliest socialist and communist revolutionaries knew and openly discussed the reality that a transformation of mankind and human nature was necessary to achieve their goals. (Ch. 7)
- Horrors of socialist/communist states (Ch. 7):
+ Stalin's Soviet Socialists: 20-30 million killed during his reign in 1st half of 20th century
+ Pol Pot's Cambodia: 2 million + slaughtered in the Killing Fields, 1975-79
+ Castro's Cuba: 100,000+ killed
+ authoritarian North Korea: up to 3 million + killed and hundreds of thousands in labor camps
+ socialist Venezuela (Chavez, Maduro): 10,000 and counting
+ China: 65 million + deaths
+ Nazi Germany: 15-20 million deaths
+ Vietnam: 1.6 million killed
+ Romania: 435,000 killed
+ Zimbabwe: 50,000 deaths
+ Angola: 10-20,000 deaths
- None of the above examples learned from the other in a way to make it different in terms of the carnage that results from socialist/communist policies.
- Gov't watchdog CAGW outlined cuts the gov't could make to wasteful spending that would save taxpayers $29.8 billion the first year and more than $3 trillion in the next 5 years. Some of the wasteful spending includes (Ch. 7):
+ $2 mil.: attempts to increase trust between Tunisian political parties
+ $2.12 bil.: convert a mental hospital into DHS HQ
+ $10 mil.: supporting green growth in Peru
+ $100k: increase capacity of Pakistani film industry
+ $48 bil.: improper payments paid by Medicare
+ $150k: taught English and computer skills at madrassas
+ $467k: studied frog mating calls in Panama
+ $51.7 mil.: paid for Google scholar searches in Hawaii
+ $325k: paid for property confiscated in Afghanistan by the ANDSF
- What's happening today with tech giants (Google, FB, etc.) censoring speech they arbitrarily deem 'inappropriate' while retaining government protection isn't proof that we need socialism because corporations are out of control, it's proof that the centralization of power is dangerous, and that when government is powerful, it can and often does make crony deals with private industry. (Ch. 7)
- Cutting US carbon dioxide emissions down to zero would do absolutely nothing to stop a future climate-change disaster because US CO2 emissions don't drive global climate-change since they make up less than 15% of global CO2. (Ch. 8 + see notes & stats)
- Socialism is an ideology of manipulation, control, and force that cannot function without coercion. On the other hand, capitalism in a truly free-market system (not corrupt crony capitalism) isn't based on greed or hate or racism or corporatism. Rather, free-market capitalism is for and made up of hard workers, entrepreneurs, thinkers, freedom -fighters, and dreamers. (Ch. 9)

[Mediaman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Makes the anti-socialism case pretty well, with humor, fake tweets that criticize the logic, and great illustrations. Very AOC and Bernie Sanders--it's about time! But it's simplistic in spots, unclear in others. They try to be clever when they could have taken the time to explain in more detail or have fewer needless illustrations that pretend to be a manuscript being proofread. Ultimately there's way too much about Glenn Beck in the book--he is a spotlight hog and thinks he's above all the other intellectuals, even though he's undereducated and blows a lot of hot air. If you can tolerate his self-promotion then it has some worthy material but it could have been much better with less Beck in it.

[Liilaa · Rating 1 out of 5]

"arguing with socialist" made a couple good points, a lot of jokes that were either flat or offensive, and zero logical conclusions.
while i agree with the general message of the book- socialism doesn't work- i also don't think that capitalism works, which is the idea glenn beck was trying to push. throughout the book, he asserts that socialism is an unattainable ideal and insists that capitalism/ completely free markets are the only way to go, although one could make the exact same arguments the opposite way ( against capitalism ).
i also found it incredibly hypocritical that a published islamophobe is using religious freedom as an argument against socialism 😂 but anyways

[Mark Phinney · Rating 4 out of 5]

About a quarter of the way through the text. A very interesting format: corkboard background with sheets of texts "pinned" on the corkboard along Post-It notes scattered throughout and textboxes containing Socialist comments. A combination of serious political text and what I think is a graphic novel format. Would have given it 5 stars, but I find the strange format distracting.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

The phrase in the blurb about lampooning the newest resurgence of sympathy for socialism says it best. It is unlikely that any lefty will entertain any of Becks arguments, although he does quite often entertain theirs. A delightful listen to take your mind off the idiocy of "the squad."

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would have preferred the actual book.... it is more of a piece by piece read vs. continual read cover to cover. Spot on with defining socialism and comparing to capitalism. Would highly recommend the book.

[Peggy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding, thoughtful,informative

Excellent, well-researched book. An excellent resource for all culture warriors. Thank you, Glenn Beck for continuing to be a watchman on the wall in our times.

[Bobbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beck makes some great arguments against Socialism and for capitalism

[Caleb · Rating 5 out of 5]

This non fictional book uses mostly facts and logic throughout its writing. It is a great read if you like facts that can be used in arguments, especially if your opinions lean more to the right side that to the left. This is a nonfiction book so reading it is not something that gets your heart pumping like other books. It is a slow read, somewhat boring, but that is to be expected. I would recommend this book to anyone that wants to learn more right wing facts, but they also need to be able to read through when it gets a little boring. I would say that this is a great book to read for anyone that has the correct attention span. I really enjoyed what I got out of the book, but I did not particularly enjoy reading through it completely. While this book does not deserve a five star review for keeping you entertained I have given it one, because its information and fact using is spectacular. For this reason alone it deserves five stars it does its job perfectly as a non fictional book.

[Tonia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read! Humorous take on the arguments for the new “progressive” socialism as offered by most of our democratic presidential candidates for the 2020 election, and the real hard facts of socialism.

The book is visually appealing, as well!

[cellomerl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Free market = freedom. Socialism = tyranny. Absolutely correct, and you need look no further than the past two years for a perfect lesson on how that’s done. Socialism is like a turd that won’t flush.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found myself laughing out loud a lot during this highly entertaining book. The format was really fun with the socialists asking questions and Glenn answering them. Really solid arguments too. Excellent book all around.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative and backed up with page after page of footnotes.

[Thor · Rating 1 out of 5]

This political science fiction is a corporate sponsored work that clearly numerous people had input on. It's an inflamatory junk work written to mislead folks into believing that a social democracy can not work by twisting the facts. The cover and nasty stereotypical and racist caricatures are evidence of this from the start. A bit of fact checking reveals the books inherent bias towards capitalism. And of course does not enumerate the many shortfalls that 99% of the population experience with a system of "democratic" government that is controlled by capitalist corporations. But at least these folks have a "choice" under the current system to be oppressively poor and destitute living paycheck to paycheck while working 80hrs a week and unable to spend any quality time with family. Glenn Beck is truly a tool of his corporate sponsors and is well paid for his trouble as evidenced by his posh lifestyle and ~250 million net worth for spreading this propoganda. If there is a hell I believe he will find himself there.

[Derek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Would recommend this book to anyone jumping to the conclusion of socialism being the solution to the problems of the United States. Glenn Beck goes in-depth with quite a bit of research of how the socialist solution of more government would create problems and that less government is the true solution to making a more free, fair and prosperous society in America.

Also, reveals how Socialism is camouflaged as a system that does good for all when in reality many politicians would like to see this system as it would further their control over Americans and increase the ability for corruption to work. The more power the government has the more money corrupt politicians can get for selling some of that power to the highest bidder. The less power a the government has the less likely corporations and individuals would pay corrupt politicians for their corrupt services as they would have no power to sell.

[Sarah :) · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF. If you're gonna argue against socialism, make sure you know what it means. Am I a socialist? Not in this comment section! (lol)
However, if anyone wants to try arguing with an actual socialist using these arguments....have at it. They're ridiculous and I hope you change your mind.
Obama is not the same as bernie sanders, and sanders is not the same as Marx and Marx is not the same as mao. (communism killed 100 trillion people, don’t you know?)
I skimmed about 10 percent of this, read the section about ecosocialism, decided that science dential wasn't worth my time and put it down. A much more effective way to argue with socialists would be to read socialist writings. Don't listen to what Glenn Beck is telling you socialists think, read around and see for yourself.
Final note is that it's easy to misrepresent an opposing argument and then "win" it, as long as you're only arguing with yourself. please, I'm begging, talk to some actual socialists.

[Colette · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has great information and endnotes to back it up. I wasn’t a fan of the format, and the thick, oversize pages made it physically heavy. I prefer a more scholarly tone. Overall, though, it’s nice to have all this info in one place. There really isn’t much you haven’t already heard if you listened to the show throughout 2019. I may use it to teach the kids when they are in high school. Hopefully by then socialism’s effects won’t already be painfully obvious in the U.S.

As always, the stars reflect my enjoyment of the book. The content and research is good.