LDS Freedom Forum

I found this a very balanced and well-written article. The author hits upon something that I've always thought about Beck- Lots of bad news, no real solutions.

http://www.lewrockwell.com/vance/vance232.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I'm not here bash Beck- that has been done many times over on this forum and it's a bit worn out, I believe that Glenn Beck's own actions over the years speak volumes about his committment to the cause of liberty.

One thing I do strongly agree with the author on is the lack of real solutions to our problems (the same could be said for Hannity, RUsh, Levinn, etc) Beck and others are expert in telling us horror stories about "progressives", "socialists", "liberals" etc, ect, who are destroying our country on a national and global scale. While this is certainly true in reality there is little we can do about George Soros or the Islamic brotherhood.
However we have these same type of people in our local city council, school board and local government- we CAN do a whole heck of alot about them - but that's never mentioned by any of these conservative saviors.

Beck's obession with Van Jones and others misses the point, change start with in the indvidual, the family and your circle of influence- fixating on national and global figures only leads to fear,frustration and helplessness. But it does sell radio, books, and speaking engagements.

Local is power- until we realize that we really are "broke"

I thought Broke was interesting (I listened to the audio book which was lent to me by my boss.) but I pretty much agree with this review as well. In particular I found annoying the NUMEROUS "teachable moments" and "ADD moments" throughout the book.

Beck's talent is to deliver a message in an interesting and non challenging way that wins people over. But he is no deep thinker, and it annoys the heck out of me when he condescends to "teach" as if he is some great philosopher who has discovered amazing economic truths when in reality he is only parroting what has been said by others, many of whom Beck has openly mocked or labelled as "terrorists" in the past. (You know who I am talking about.)

The fact that Beck could do a book like this that 90%+ could have been written by Ron Paul 30 years ago - it is irritating. The only thing that makes it bearable is the fact that Beck is delivering a needed message to a much wider audience than Ron Paul could reach.

Original_Intent wrote:The only thing that makes it bearable is the fact that Beck is delivering a needed message to a much wider audience than Ron Paul could reach.

And THAT, I think is what makes Glenn Beck necessary. There are so many compliant, asleep, and disinterested in our society and I think he is effective in getting some of those to wake up.

I think he's doing a service and needs more support than criticism. I've long been a critic but recently my heart has turned towards him because he is saying things now that too many at his level of reach flat out ignore.

The first time I ever listened to Glenn Beck, he was on the radio. I had no idea who he was, but at that time he was trying to get people to be prepared financially and have some food storage. That was several years ago. Whatever else you may think of him, he has warned people over and over again about the coming financial problems (and has strongly admonished us to get out of debt) and that we need to have commodities and extra food stored. If he never did another thing, that alone has been wonderful for people to hear. He has helped many to awaken to the perilous situation in the world and extols the freedoms we're supposed to be guaranteed by the Constitution. I've watched him become more and more aware as time passes. IMO, he has done good things.

A really great review. I agreed with Vance on just about everything he said, other than his short paragraph regarding God's hand in forming this nation.