Khari’s Reviews > The Sovereign Individual: Mastering the Transition to the Information Age > Status Update

I'm not sure it gets any better. I just took a peak at the reviews, and I only read three random ones, so it's a really small sample size and I could have read three outliers, it's entirely possibly, but all the things they mentioned were things I read in the first chapter, that I thought were ridiculous arguments....so....sigh...am I going to be in the minority of one again?

Why aren't people turning away from it? Does it get better later?

Political violence? Huge uptick, especially in the west.

I understand he couldn't possibly have known that. What I don't understand is why this book has such a high rating on here. Goodreads didn't exist in the 90s when this book was published, give it 10 years to get out there and be read, that was enough time for 9/11 to happen, which should have cast some doubt on his predictions, but now?

3. Returns to violence aren't high now.

What did you have to be smoking to think that? Maybe in the 90s were a bright shining hope of the future, but, I think we can safely say that we have learned that wasn't the case. Humanity is endlessly capable of screwing things up, and we have. Violent crime? Is going down, in western societies. Violent governmental take overs? Same global level...possibly higher.

"The collapse of communism marked the end of a long cycle of 5 centuries during which magnitude of power overwhelmed efficiency in the organization of the government. It was a time when the returns to violence when the returns to violence were high and rising, they no longer are."

1. Communism never collapsed. The USSR collapsed. Communism still be going in Vietnam, China, Venezuela, the American education system...

Not just that, but what is he even talking about?

Did you know you can get arrested for not paying for a license to WATCH TV in Britain!?!?!?! And that it's been that way since the advent of TV?

I didn't know that. I learned that yesterday. That does not smack of 'less regulation' to me.

Since, humanity is perfectible, we will never fall into the traps that we fell into before. We are constantly becoming something better and leaving behind all of the unfortunate things that plagued our forefathers.

Nah. That's not how it works. And that is clearly true when it comes to government regulation. There is WAY more government regulation than there was in the 90s, not less. WATER PRESSURE is regulated now

"Governments have already lost much of their power to regulate and compel."

Don't you just love how that is just stated. No proof. No argument. Just asserted, and I'm supposed to run with it.

I beg your pardon.

I realize that this book was written in the 90s, I get that, it's just that this man is clearly suffering from a sad possession of the unconstrained vision Sowell talks about, humanity is perfectible.

I think these ideas would have benefited from being presented in a less...assertive way.

They feel very very sure of themselves and the reader isn't helping at all.