Give Me Liberty: Freeing Ourselves in the Twenty-First Century

by Gerry Spence

Here, in this landmark personal work, Gerry demonstrates how, despite the democratic rhetoric we hear and believe, we have become enslaved. All of us are trapped by a complex web of corporate and governmental behemoths he calls the "New Slave Master" That today controls our airways, educates our children, and manages every facet of our lives.

Yet, far from being a pronouncement of gloom, Give Me Liberty! is an inspiring and visionary work. In the spirit of his bestselling How to Argue and Win Every Time, Spence expounds on his philosophy, thus empowering us to:

Liberate the slave within, redefine success, unchain the spirit, escape the religions of work and beliefs that enslave us, free ourselves with what he calls our "magical weapon."

Like Thomas Paine's Common Sense, Give Me Liberty! captures the underlying malaise of a country, transforming it into a national dialogue that promises a groundswell for a meaningful democracy in America in the coming years.

Genres: Nonfiction

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Gerry Spence is a trial lawyer in the United States. In 2008, he announced he would retire, at age 79, at the end of the Geoffrey Fieger trial in Detroit, MI. Spence did not lose a criminal case in the over 50 years he practiced law. He started his career as a prosecutor and later became a successful defense attorney for the insurance industry. Years later, Spence said he "saw the light" and became committed to representing people, instead of corporations, insurance companies, banks, or "big business."

Reviews

[Guillermo Galvan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up Give Me Liberty! because Gerry Spence’s How to Argue and Win Every Time greatly influenced me. I would have never read either of these books if it were up to me. First off Gerry Spence looks like some shit kicking cow boy that going to lecture me about how on how rope steer and read the bible. My wife bought, New York Times Bestseller, How to Argue and Win Every Time because she says I’m an argumentative person and wanted some inside tips on how to smash me. Ironically she didn’t end up liking the book, and I got a lot out of it.

In Give Me Liberty! Spence puts forward a bold statement: We are all slaves in an American era of neo-slavery in which the Government and Corporate world have merged together into what he calls “The New Master.” We all serve this non-person master that has gone out of control and is designed to burn up human life and the earth in the self-destructive quest for dead money. It’s sort of like George Orwell’s “Big Brother,” but nobody even knows it exists because we’re free, according to the never ending propaganda. For some people the premise will sound too outrageous to even be considered. But many others are becoming aware of the constant chipping away of their rights, of the government preference towards aiding corporations, and faulty rational for continuing the never ending War on Terror.

This book reads like the memories from a man who’s spent the better part of his professional life deep within the power system, the courts. Spence isn’t a shock jock media personality whose only credentials are the network’s blessing. Spence has been through the legal battles and has the track record to prove it. What I truly enjoyed about this book is that he instills a human feeling. He puts a face on the people affected by this abusive system. His ideas are radical as any of the championed counter culture figures, but since he doesn’t drop acid and jam out on a guitar, he isn’t as appealing. The spirit of the Enlightenment thinkers and Pamphleteers of Revolutionary America runs deep through his work. Spence is a true patriot, but first he’s a real human being.

[Sylvia · Rating 5 out of 5]

More pertinent today than ever before. Think, America, think!

[X · Rating 3 out of 5]

Culled interesting quotes. Didn't quite agree with the premise of the book (lots of active cognitive dissonance), but it had some merit.

[Barry James Hickey]

Intriguing ideas. Tears apart the framework of justice, politics and corporations in America.