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Politically Incorrect Guides
The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Sixties
Get ready to break on through to the other side as critically-acclaimed playwright and journalist Jonathan Leaf reveals the politically incorrect truth about one of the most controversial decades in history--the 1960s. Life was more "square" than "groovy" and Dean Martin was topping the Billboard charts--not Jimmy Hendrix. In this blast from the past, Leaf exposes the lies and busts the myths propagated by the liberal establishment. Did you The civil rights movement did little to improve the lives of average African Americans?* Most Americans actively supported the Vietnam War and the draft?* My Fair Lady was one of the most popular albums during the 1960s? The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Sixties proves the anti-Vietnam War sentiment and free love slogans that supposedly "defined" the decade were just a small part of the leftist counter culture. The mainstream culture was more politically incorrect--but you'll never hear that from a liberal pundit or read it in a politically correct textbook.
256 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 11, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
March 2, 2014
So I was feeling particularly masochistic and skimmed the chapter on the civil rights movement and came away impressed by conservatives' ability to come super close to saying that civil rights activists were uppity whiners without quite saying it. I also loved the part when the scary radicals took over and started promoting racial hatred. I mean, not the racial hatred that led to this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmett_T... but the kind that led to a lot of hurt feelings on the part of whites (and isn't that the worst kind of racial hatred?).
June 19, 2012
My least favorite of the PIG series so far, but still worth reading just to get a different perspective on the era. The book is insightful, but it lacks focus and is written in a snide, know-it-all tone. In the arts section, especially, author Jonathan Leaf steps way outside the confines of historical fact and instead takes on the role of music and film critic. That wouldn't be so bad, expect that Leaf--like most bad critics I don't care to listen to--talks as though art is a science and personal preference doesn't factor in at all. According to Leaf, all rock music is a threat to conservative values (and "Christian rock" is an oxymoron), rock music is almost never artistic (he does make allowances for a couple of Beatles tunes, but then stridently points out that those songs weren't actually rock songs), the ability to read music is the key to being a great musician (only second-rate losers play songs by ear!), any novice with a guitar can quickly master most rock songs (because rock music is so ridiculously simple), and it was Johnny Cash's drug addiction that later made him more popular than singers like Glen Campbell and Roger Miller because it provided him with a bad-boy rock star vibe (Leaf conveniently leaves out the fact that both Glen Campbell and Roger Miller also did copious amounts of drugs). To hear Leaf tell it, you'd think that the reason we listen to The Rolling Stones on the radio these days instead of the MARY POPPINS soundtrack is mostly due to Democrats. I prefer to think that The Stones' music has simply held up better. I understand Leaf's point that the music that was popular back in the '60s is not what the decade is remembered for today...but so what? I sincerely hope that, thirty years from now, the '90s won't be remembered for the crap that was most popular at the time: The Spice Girls, N'Sync, Ricky Martin, Sugar Ray, The Macarana, etc. As for movies, Leaf prefers the stupefyingly goofy '60s Batman TV show with Adam West to the new Batman films with Christian Bale, which he refers to as "nihilistic" and "sadistic." What?!!
At least some part of this book will probably irritate you. Leaf happily criticizes just about everyone and everything that was around at the time. He makes a lot of very good points, but much of the book comes across as being too overwhelmingly negative. Unless you comes across it at a yard sale, you'd be better off to save your money and read one of the other PIG guides instead.
At least some part of this book will probably irritate you. Leaf happily criticizes just about everyone and everything that was around at the time. He makes a lot of very good points, but much of the book comes across as being too overwhelmingly negative. Unless you comes across it at a yard sale, you'd be better off to save your money and read one of the other PIG guides instead.
February 3, 2019
4.3ish, but I’ll round up just to irritate the bomb-throwers. Highlights for me were the chapters on:
Student Radicalism
The Civil Rights movement
The race to the moon
LBJ’s War on poverty
All of the above have been romanticized continually in the ensuing decades, but a lot of truth behind the facades can be gleaned from this quick, concise commentary.
Student Radicalism
The Civil Rights movement
The race to the moon
LBJ’s War on poverty
All of the above have been romanticized continually in the ensuing decades, but a lot of truth behind the facades can be gleaned from this quick, concise commentary.
August 27, 2016
This is literally the worst book of any kind I've ever read. It is an extremist right-wing manifesto parading about as a legitimate textbook. It believes it is correcting a "liberal bias" in other books, making it the Fox News of Textbooks. Truly a steaming pile.
January 10, 2022
Hey Jonathan Leaf, why don't you make like a tree and get fucking axed?
June 11, 2018
As one of a large collection of Politically Incorrect Guides [1] that I am in the process of reading and reviewing, I was struck by the way that this book is deeply relevant to looking at culture as a whole. Regardless of what decade that one lives in, there is a large collection of culture that is viewed as being significant because of the way that it serves the aims of cultural elites, and a great deal of culture in the time [2] that is overlooked because it does not fit in with cultural narratives. The soundtrack pop and musicals and country music, for example, of the sixties and other generations tends to be ignored because such music is viewed as being reactionary and not with the spirit of the times. Thus the deeply conservative music and culture that tends to be the most popular in every age is neglected by those who want to promote a view of cultural progress from tradition to oblivion. In the midst of a great deal of misguided and inaccurate rhetoric about the sixties, the author rather understandably wishes to set the record straight in this book, and he does.
This book of slightly more than 200 pages is divided into thirteen chapters that explore the seedy as well as wholesome and conservative aspects of the sixties that are often not given full coverage by those who write about the decade. The author begins with four chapters about the social sixties (I), including some pointed comments about student activists (1), the advent and legacy of feminism (2), the ambiguities of the civil rights movement (3), and some rather harsh comments about the intellectuals of the time (4). After this the author spends four chapters exploring the cultural sixties (II) with a discussion of rock and roll and country and folk and pop music (5), the transitional period of television during the decade (6), the best of sixties fashion (7), and the author's rather critical views of the rise of NASA and the moon missions (8). The author then finishes with five chapters on the political sixties (III) in which he gives a rather scorching negative view of Earl Warren (9), gives a revisionist view of JFK's presidency (10), discusses the failures of Johnson's war on poverty (11), gives as brief view of America's failure in Vietnam (12), and discusses the counter-counterculture of the rise of American conservatism (13).
It is hard, ultimately, to fully approve of a book like this. The author, for example, appears to desire a big tent coalition of conservatives that includes cultural conservatives as well as more libertarian elements like Ayn Rand, whose views I am quite critical of because of their unabashed selfishness and lack of charity towards others. Likewise, the author is a bit too strident in his anti-intellectualism, although he definitely does a good job at providing some much needed balance and context to what happened in the sixties as well as some much needed criticism of the links between so much of sixties counterculture with Communist attempts at bringing down the United States through decadence and fifth columnists in academia and the media, something that remains a critical area of problems for the United States to this day. This is certainly not the book that most people would expect to read about the 1960's, but even if it is not a book that one can endorse without reservations, there is still a lot of value in the author's reflection on what was lasting and what was dated about the culture of the time.
[1] See, for example:
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...
[2] See, for example:
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2014...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...
This book of slightly more than 200 pages is divided into thirteen chapters that explore the seedy as well as wholesome and conservative aspects of the sixties that are often not given full coverage by those who write about the decade. The author begins with four chapters about the social sixties (I), including some pointed comments about student activists (1), the advent and legacy of feminism (2), the ambiguities of the civil rights movement (3), and some rather harsh comments about the intellectuals of the time (4). After this the author spends four chapters exploring the cultural sixties (II) with a discussion of rock and roll and country and folk and pop music (5), the transitional period of television during the decade (6), the best of sixties fashion (7), and the author's rather critical views of the rise of NASA and the moon missions (8). The author then finishes with five chapters on the political sixties (III) in which he gives a rather scorching negative view of Earl Warren (9), gives a revisionist view of JFK's presidency (10), discusses the failures of Johnson's war on poverty (11), gives as brief view of America's failure in Vietnam (12), and discusses the counter-counterculture of the rise of American conservatism (13).
It is hard, ultimately, to fully approve of a book like this. The author, for example, appears to desire a big tent coalition of conservatives that includes cultural conservatives as well as more libertarian elements like Ayn Rand, whose views I am quite critical of because of their unabashed selfishness and lack of charity towards others. Likewise, the author is a bit too strident in his anti-intellectualism, although he definitely does a good job at providing some much needed balance and context to what happened in the sixties as well as some much needed criticism of the links between so much of sixties counterculture with Communist attempts at bringing down the United States through decadence and fifth columnists in academia and the media, something that remains a critical area of problems for the United States to this day. This is certainly not the book that most people would expect to read about the 1960's, but even if it is not a book that one can endorse without reservations, there is still a lot of value in the author's reflection on what was lasting and what was dated about the culture of the time.
[1] See, for example:
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...
[2] See, for example:
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2014...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...
October 27, 2009
I enjoy books that seek to debunk liberal mythology. Liberal mythology runs deep and thick and I admire anyone who has the guts to go after it. This is a light read, not an in-depth expose'. Of particular interest are the chapters on the effect of the "Great Society" on the Black family and the Vietnam War. I question the conclusions of the chapter on the space program, I feel the program was worthy, even if it was expensive.
August 9, 2010
This book zipped through this era briefly touching on many important tidbits that most Americans have never heard of. Being interested in this time period I have read many books on the subject so there was not very many things I learned.
Leaf has a straight forward and blunt way of saying things, which makes the book fun. I agreed with most of what he said, but I still like to listen to Bob Dylan and the Grateful Dead.
Leaf has a straight forward and blunt way of saying things, which makes the book fun. I agreed with most of what he said, but I still like to listen to Bob Dylan and the Grateful Dead.
February 23, 2013
Lots of factual and date errors. Also lots of points of view that, while opinions, are decidedly bizarre, such as stating that Bob Dylan lacks any talent. On the one hand he lauds John Lennon for criticizing a part of the Students for a Democratic Society for praising Mao, on the other hand he calls Lennon "snarly."
The book makes some valid points about other 60's characters, but over-makes its case.
The book makes some valid points about other 60's characters, but over-makes its case.
January 17, 2016
This is the third P.I.G. book I have read. While i like them and the information I learn, they are coming from a negative perspective. So, they are a bit of a downer.
On balance, I really liked the book becuase it was informative and had a funny take on the world.
On balance, I really liked the book becuase it was informative and had a funny take on the world.
May 23, 2013
Skip this one. Too much opinion offered as fact. I especially disliked the music reviews. To paraphrase "Field of Dreams", I think he had two fifties and skipped right to the seventies.
September 27, 2021
3 stars [History]
(W: 3.11, U: 3, T: 3.25)
Exact rating: 3.12
Another interesting PIG to a period of World History, which aimed to set the record straight regarding conventional ideas about America in the 1960s. Excellent elements included the philosophical roots of Feminism, the economics of LBJ's Great Society, and the conservative resurgence of Hayek, Friedman, and Buckley. Facepalming elements included defending censorship, serving up 20/20 hindsight on the Space Race with Moscow and Kennedy in Cuba, and criticizing the Moon landing as not worth the cost.
Despite the superficiality of some of its commentary, I always appreciate the appeal to primary sources and setting straight the cancer of Historical Revisionism.
//W lexico-syntactic 3, pacing 2.83, dynamic 3.5)
//U 3.5, minus 1/4 for elements of lower utility like fewer recommended follow-up readings
//T major elements of 3.5, 4, 4.5, and 2, minus 1/4 total for lack of nuance
(W: 3.11, U: 3, T: 3.25)
Exact rating: 3.12
Another interesting PIG to a period of World History, which aimed to set the record straight regarding conventional ideas about America in the 1960s. Excellent elements included the philosophical roots of Feminism, the economics of LBJ's Great Society, and the conservative resurgence of Hayek, Friedman, and Buckley. Facepalming elements included defending censorship, serving up 20/20 hindsight on the Space Race with Moscow and Kennedy in Cuba, and criticizing the Moon landing as not worth the cost.
Despite the superficiality of some of its commentary, I always appreciate the appeal to primary sources and setting straight the cancer of Historical Revisionism.
//W lexico-syntactic 3, pacing 2.83, dynamic 3.5)
//U 3.5, minus 1/4 for elements of lower utility like fewer recommended follow-up readings
//T major elements of 3.5, 4, 4.5, and 2, minus 1/4 total for lack of nuance
October 19, 2020
An expose of a lot of garbage we were told about the Sixties that turned out to be... Well, garbage.
A very interesting book about how intellectuals were trying to mold the future, and actually succeeded partially in that, as we are seeing the repercussions. It's always hilarious though that whenever something turns out to be bad, people always blame it on America/Capitalism/Christianity, etc... A good book if you really want to listen to something different than what you almost hear every day.
I did not like much the segment about Rock or Metal, but I can understand his viewpoint. The metal and rock culture were mostly filled by posers and dimwits, but their music, often, was very good. But even we metalheads call those bands that are not extreme posers. Lol
A very interesting book about how intellectuals were trying to mold the future, and actually succeeded partially in that, as we are seeing the repercussions. It's always hilarious though that whenever something turns out to be bad, people always blame it on America/Capitalism/Christianity, etc... A good book if you really want to listen to something different than what you almost hear every day.
I did not like much the segment about Rock or Metal, but I can understand his viewpoint. The metal and rock culture were mostly filled by posers and dimwits, but their music, often, was very good. But even we metalheads call those bands that are not extreme posers. Lol
March 1, 2010
Not one of my favorite PIGs, although I appreciate all of them for their attempts to correct the misinformation of conventional wisdom. Although the book only addresses 10 years of American History, the reader is left feeling unsatisfied with the level of detail of the information.
June 18, 2015
Just incase you forgot or don't know.
March 28, 2017
Not one of my favourite interpretations of the sixties. After the first few pages, it became apparent that the author was often stating an opinion or offering his own interpretation than debating any particular issue. Interesting in that he is presenting a conservative point of view and it is always a great mental exercise to have your own beliefs challenged. However, his humour often comes across as being sarcastic a tad snide. In the chapters regarding culture - music - his opinion was of less interest to me. I have read better books within the Politically Incorrect series.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews