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Shakedown Socialism
A brilliant study, profusely illustrated with cartoons and propaganda posters, Atbashian explains why Socialism cannot work. He exposes the injustice of "Collective Greed" and shows why Economic Equality is a fraud. The book is an eye-opener as the author illustrates his points with examples drawn from his life in the Soviet Union before 1994 and more recent events in the USA.
134 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
December 9, 2011
This is just a fun read--you hear all this stuff about socialism back and forth, but this guy actually lived through it in the former Soviet Union and can tell you what it was really like.
Definitely worth a read if you would like to hear it from someone who can speak on it with the authority of a person who actually saw the policies implemented and has a good understanding not only of what it was like but why it was like that.
Socialists would like to conveniently sweep the misery that was the Soviet Union under the carpets of forgotten history, just like they used to call the stories about what it was like behind the Iron Curtain western propaganda. First person, plainly spoken observations of what really went on there are priceless.
Definitely worth a read if you would like to hear it from someone who can speak on it with the authority of a person who actually saw the policies implemented and has a good understanding not only of what it was like but why it was like that.
Socialists would like to conveniently sweep the misery that was the Soviet Union under the carpets of forgotten history, just like they used to call the stories about what it was like behind the Iron Curtain western propaganda. First person, plainly spoken observations of what really went on there are priceless.
October 18, 2018
A must read for everybody.
May 7, 2011
Much of this book's content and opinion is similar to the writings of many other conservatives. However, Shakedown Socialism has a unique angle in that its author was born and raised within the Soviet Union; his observations on what is currently happening in America are informed by what he saw in Soviet Ukraine. Thus, what might otherwise be guesses or theories on the part of the average conservative writer are actually Atbashian's personal experiences.
At 124 pages of actual text, the book reads like an extended article. The author is immensely straightforward and to the point; many authors nowadays would probably have taken 200 or more pages to say what Atbashian does. Shakedown Socialism focuses primarily on the negative effects of collectivism on personal and economic freedom, with an emphasis on the influence of unions (chapter 1 is named after a Vladimir Lenin quote: "Trade Unions are the School of Communism"). While leftists decry the greed and selfishness of managers, business owners, and other "enemies", the author points out that personal greed tends to be much more rational and less detrimental to others' liberties than collective greed, which is often tainted with a mob mentality. Atbashian recognizes that the vast majority of union members are decent people, but he deplores what is being done in their name and with their dues money.
The author's primary concern is that the collectivism demonstrated by trade unions, government unions, organizations like ACORN, and others will eventually lead to a situation similar to what happened in the Soviet Union. In the USSR, such unions initially colluded with the government and aided it in growing its power. Shortly thereafter, the newly totalitarian state declared the independent unions to be obsolete and absorbed them into the state apparatus. Once part of the state, conditions and wages tended to be forced down to pre-union levels, union organizers became representatives of the state rather than of the union members, and strikes made workers "enemies of the people" (with the attendant consequences).
Shakedown Socialism is a quick read and is livened up with photos and reproductions of Soviet agitprop. Also included are some of Atbashian's images that originally appeared on The People's Cube. The author, a talented artist, actually produced propaganda for a local Party committee in the USSR. And as is apparent from both his website as well as this book, Atbashian is also a talented writer. Not only are his arguments clear and logical, but his grammar, sentence structure, and spelling are excellent. I know that it seems petty to praise these later items, but it indicates a thoroughness and care on the part of the author and his editor(s) that is too often lacking in books printed by mainstream presses (and many small publishers and self-publishers are absolutely horrible in this regard).
At 124 pages of actual text, the book reads like an extended article. The author is immensely straightforward and to the point; many authors nowadays would probably have taken 200 or more pages to say what Atbashian does. Shakedown Socialism focuses primarily on the negative effects of collectivism on personal and economic freedom, with an emphasis on the influence of unions (chapter 1 is named after a Vladimir Lenin quote: "Trade Unions are the School of Communism"). While leftists decry the greed and selfishness of managers, business owners, and other "enemies", the author points out that personal greed tends to be much more rational and less detrimental to others' liberties than collective greed, which is often tainted with a mob mentality. Atbashian recognizes that the vast majority of union members are decent people, but he deplores what is being done in their name and with their dues money.
The author's primary concern is that the collectivism demonstrated by trade unions, government unions, organizations like ACORN, and others will eventually lead to a situation similar to what happened in the Soviet Union. In the USSR, such unions initially colluded with the government and aided it in growing its power. Shortly thereafter, the newly totalitarian state declared the independent unions to be obsolete and absorbed them into the state apparatus. Once part of the state, conditions and wages tended to be forced down to pre-union levels, union organizers became representatives of the state rather than of the union members, and strikes made workers "enemies of the people" (with the attendant consequences).
Shakedown Socialism is a quick read and is livened up with photos and reproductions of Soviet agitprop. Also included are some of Atbashian's images that originally appeared on The People's Cube. The author, a talented artist, actually produced propaganda for a local Party committee in the USSR. And as is apparent from both his website as well as this book, Atbashian is also a talented writer. Not only are his arguments clear and logical, but his grammar, sentence structure, and spelling are excellent. I know that it seems petty to praise these later items, but it indicates a thoroughness and care on the part of the author and his editor(s) that is too often lacking in books printed by mainstream presses (and many small publishers and self-publishers are absolutely horrible in this regard).
December 30, 2010
I should preface this review by stating unequivocally that I happen to personally know the author of this book, so anyone who believes that I have a biased impression heading into this review should take that into consideration. Even so, I do believe that I'm able to praise this polemic with a clear conscience, since it provides a unique perspective on the creeping socialism that has hobbled the American economy and culture since the height of the New Deal, continued to progress during the Great Society, and culminated in the election of President Barack Obama, a child of the Sixties idealism who has led this nation to become a pale replica of the stagnant, Euro-socialist states whose economic model we are now emulating.
Coming from the economic and spiritual malaise that seven decades of pure Communism had imposed upon a people, Mr. Atbashian realizes the potential danger we are courting by allowing those with a vested interest in suppressing freedom of choice, e.g. organized labor, the nonprofit and "caring" industries, and the political class that has a reciprocal relationship with these tax-eaters, to have free rein over the American taxpayer and creative class. The parallels he draws between the current state of our country and the transition Russia made as it became the USSR is telling, and will astonish anyone unfamiliar with the conditions that prevailed in that country just before the soon to be abolished collectivist unions seized power there. I've given this book to friends who've experienced it for themselves, and would gladly give it to others who have never experienced the arbitrary cruelty and frustration of living under the iron curtain, but who know that we are heading in the wrong direction under Commissar Obama.
Read "Shakedown Socialism" for your own mental health, if nothing else.
Coming from the economic and spiritual malaise that seven decades of pure Communism had imposed upon a people, Mr. Atbashian realizes the potential danger we are courting by allowing those with a vested interest in suppressing freedom of choice, e.g. organized labor, the nonprofit and "caring" industries, and the political class that has a reciprocal relationship with these tax-eaters, to have free rein over the American taxpayer and creative class. The parallels he draws between the current state of our country and the transition Russia made as it became the USSR is telling, and will astonish anyone unfamiliar with the conditions that prevailed in that country just before the soon to be abolished collectivist unions seized power there. I've given this book to friends who've experienced it for themselves, and would gladly give it to others who have never experienced the arbitrary cruelty and frustration of living under the iron curtain, but who know that we are heading in the wrong direction under Commissar Obama.
Read "Shakedown Socialism" for your own mental health, if nothing else.
January 19, 2011
Written by Oleg Atbashian, creator of the website ThePeoplesCube.com, provides an insightful analysis of American's decent into socialism---drawing parallels with todays political and economic trends to his experience in the Soviet Union.
The author packs a lot into 124 small pages, hitting on some of the most important aspects of socialism:
1) It's false claims of equality and justice which invariably lead to state sanctioned inequality and injustice
2) It's perversion of the meaning of "fair" away from the rule of law and a level playing field into a system rigged for the forced redistribution of property away from those who earned it to those who have not.
3) The unavoidable connection between socialism and coercion, corruption, and loss of freedom.
4) How socialism, as all variants of collectivism, end up turning individuals into fodder for the political elite.
It's a well written warning aimed at liberals, hoping to awaken them to the fact that the methods they are employing (government force) will not achieve their professed ends (equality and justice) but in fact the exact opposite.
The author packs a lot into 124 small pages, hitting on some of the most important aspects of socialism:
1) It's false claims of equality and justice which invariably lead to state sanctioned inequality and injustice
2) It's perversion of the meaning of "fair" away from the rule of law and a level playing field into a system rigged for the forced redistribution of property away from those who earned it to those who have not.
3) The unavoidable connection between socialism and coercion, corruption, and loss of freedom.
4) How socialism, as all variants of collectivism, end up turning individuals into fodder for the political elite.
It's a well written warning aimed at liberals, hoping to awaken them to the fact that the methods they are employing (government force) will not achieve their professed ends (equality and justice) but in fact the exact opposite.
August 6, 2011
An irregular on The People's Cube, I asked the author once to relate his perspectives as a former USSR citizen living in the Age of Obama. He pointed me to some articles he wrote for Pajamas Media, and gave occasional glimpses (apart from the satire he usually writes) in serious essays he would post over at TPC. Now, he has compiled several articles he wrote concerning Trade Unions, and the parallels he sees between his former country during Communist rule and how they operate in ours today. It is a quick read, but very informative.
January 14, 2022
Absolutely essential reading in today's SJW world
Well written and concise. Succinctly compares the communist/socialist system to capitalism and explains why the first always moves a society to jealousy, misery, and mass executions, while the second leads to greater happiness and freedom for its citizens. Though written during the Obama years, its frightening insights are directly applicable to today's progressive movement and their embrace of violence as they try to create their better world. Atbashian is moving, funny and insightful as he relates personal experiences under both systems. I very much enjoyed reading this.
Well written and concise. Succinctly compares the communist/socialist system to capitalism and explains why the first always moves a society to jealousy, misery, and mass executions, while the second leads to greater happiness and freedom for its citizens. Though written during the Obama years, its frightening insights are directly applicable to today's progressive movement and their embrace of violence as they try to create their better world. Atbashian is moving, funny and insightful as he relates personal experiences under both systems. I very much enjoyed reading this.
July 6, 2018
Great Light Read
This is a great introduction for anyone curious about the current political implications of labour union relations in the USA. This is not an academic treatise, and is not filled with citations and specific philisophical examinations. This is an enjoyable overview of the pathway that radical left influence will have on western societies. Drawing real life parallels with his own life in the former USSR, Oleg paints a dystopian picture of what is to come if nothing is done.
This is a great introduction for anyone curious about the current political implications of labour union relations in the USA. This is not an academic treatise, and is not filled with citations and specific philisophical examinations. This is an enjoyable overview of the pathway that radical left influence will have on western societies. Drawing real life parallels with his own life in the former USSR, Oleg paints a dystopian picture of what is to come if nothing is done.
July 6, 2017
Nobody's a boob with the People's Cube!
May 26, 2012
Being in business I think this is a good wake up call for our country. It is basically saying that the federal gov is choking the life out of American business by regulation and squandering our wealth through entitlement programs.
Whereas I agree with the premise, I don't trust corporate America either and I think the gov. does need to regulate working conditions, EPA regulations, ADA requirements, etc.
Whereas I agree with the premise, I don't trust corporate America either and I think the gov. does need to regulate working conditions, EPA regulations, ADA requirements, etc.
April 28, 2016
Socialism explained
Awesome
A warning from someone who knows the dangers of the creeping socialism in our society from his own experience with the last socialist failure. A must read!
Awesome
A warning from someone who knows the dangers of the creeping socialism in our society from his own experience with the last socialist failure. A must read!
Want to Read
October 9, 2011Just a highlight: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xd3waS...
January 22, 2013
While I am sympathetic to the ideology presented in this book, the book was really quite boring and lacked any real intellectual discussion or robust argument.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews