The Thom Hartmann Hidden History Series
By Thom Hartmann and Greg Palast
4.5/5
()
About this series
In this powerful, sweeping history and analysis of American democracy, Thom Hartmann shows how democracy is the one form of governance most likely to produce peace and happiness among people.
With the violent exception of the Civil War, American democracy resisted the pressure to disintegrate into factionalism for nearly two centuries, and now our very system of democratic elections is at stake. So how do we save our democracy?
Hartmann's newest book in the celebrated Hidden History Series offers a clear call to action and a set of solutions with road maps for individuals and communities to follow to create a safer, more just society and a more equitable and prosperous economy.
Titles in the series (9)
- The Hidden History of Guns and the Second Amendment
1
“In this precise primer on firearms practices and policies, progressive talk-show host Hartmann examines the history of routine gun usage and extreme gun violence and assesses the influence of gun ownership on contemporary political, economic, and social norms…A brief but powerful analysis of a searing national crisis.” —Booklist Thom Hartmann, the most popular progressive radio host in America and a New York Times bestselling author, looks at the real history of guns in America and what we can do to limit both their lethal impact and the power of the gun lobby. Taking his typically in-depth, historically informed view, Hartmann examines the brutal role guns have played in American history, from the genocide of the Native Americans to the enforcement of slavery (Slave Patrols are in fact the Second Amendment's “well-regulated militias”) and the racist post–Civil War social order. He shows how the NRA and conservative Supreme Court justices used specious logic to invent a virtually unlimited individual right to own guns, which has enabled the ever-growing number of mass shootings in the United States. But Hartmann also identifies a handful of powerful, commonsense solutions that would break the power of the gun lobby and restore the understanding of the Second Amendment that the Framers of the Constitution intended. This is the kind of brief, brilliant analysis for which Hartmann is justly renowned.
- The Hidden History of the War on Voting: Who Stole Your Vote—and How to Get It Back
3
"Hartmann's history of voter suppression in America is necessary information given current news about voter registration purges and redistricting...a particularly timely topic for an election year, and anyone who is seriously concerned about the survival of American democracy will want to read this book and apply its lessons."—Booklist America's #1 progressive radio host looks at how elites have long tried to disenfranchise citizens—particularly people of color, women, and the poor—and shows what we can do to ensure everyone has a voice in this democracy. In today's America, only a slim majority of people register to vote, and a large percentage of registered voters don't bother to show up: Donald Trump was elected by only 26 percent of eligible voters. Unfortunately, this is not a bug in our system, it's a feature. Thom Hartmann unveils the strategies and tactics that conservative elites in this country have used, from the foundation of the Electoral College to the latest voter ID laws, to protect their interests by preventing “the wrong people”—such as the poor, women, and people of color—from voting while making it more convenient for the wealthy and white. But he also lays out a wide variety of simple, commonsense ways that we the people can fight back and reclaim our right to rule through the ballot box.
- The Hidden History of the Supreme Court and the Betrayal of America
2
“Hartmann delivers a full-throated indictment of the U.S. Supreme Court in this punchy polemic." —Publishers Weekly Thom Hartmann, the most popular progressive radio host in America and a New York Times bestselling author, explains how the Supreme Court has spilled beyond its Constitutional powers and how we the people should take that power back. Taking his typically in-depth, historically informed view, Thom Hartmann asks, What if the Supreme Court didn't have the power to strike down laws? According to the Constitution, it doesn't. From the founding of the republic until 1803, the Supreme Court was the final court of appeals, as it was always meant to be. So where did the concept of judicial review start? As so much of modern American history, it began with the battle between the Federalists and Anti-Federalists, and with Marbury v. Madison. Hartmann argues it is not the role of the Supreme Court to decide what the law is but rather the duty of the people themselves. He lays out the history of the Supreme Court of the United States, since Alexander Hamilton's defense to modern-day debates, with key examples of cases where the Supreme Court overstepped its constitutional powers. The ultimate remedy to the Supreme Court's abuse of power is with the people--the ultimate arbiter of the law--using the ballot box. America does not belong to the kings and queens; it belongs to the people.
- The Hidden History of Monopolies: How Big Business Destroyed the American Dream
4
“This is the most important, dynamic book on the cancers of monopoly by giant corporations written in our generation.”—from the foreword by Ralph Nader American monopolies dominate, control, and consume most of the energy of our entire economic system; they function the same as cancer does in a body, and, like cancer, they weaken our systems while threatening to crash the entire body economic. American monopolies have also seized massive political power and use it to maintain their obscene profits and CEO salaries while crushing small competitors. But Thom Hartmann, America's #1 progressive radio host, shows we've broken the control of behemoths like these before, and we can do it again. Hartmann takes us from the birth of America as a revolt against monopoly (remember the Boston Tea Party?), to the largely successful efforts of both Presidents Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt and other like-minded leaders to restrain corporations' monopolistic urges, to the massive changes in the rules of business starting during the “Reagan Revolution” that have brought us to the cancer stage of capitalism. He shows the damage monopolies have done to so many industries: agriculture, healthcare, the media, and more. Individuals have taken a hit as well: the average American family pays a $5,000 a year “monopoly tax” in the form of higher prices for everything from pharmaceuticals to airfare to household goods and food. But Hartmann also describes commonsense, historically rooted measures we can take—such as revitalizing antitrust regulation, taxing great wealth, and getting money out of politics—to pry control of our country from the tentacles of the monopolists.
- The Hidden History of American Oligarchy: Reclaiming Our Democracy from the Ruling Class
5
Thom Hartmann, the most popular progressive radio host in America and a New York Times bestselling author, looks at the history of the battle against oligarchy in America—and how we can win the latest round. Billionaire oligarchs want to own our republic, and they're nearly there thanks to legislation and Supreme Court decisions that they have essentially bought. They put Trump and his political allies into office and support a vast network of think tanks, publications, and social media that every day push our nation closer and closer to police-state tyranny. The United States was born in a struggle against the oligarchs of the British aristocracy, and ever since then the history of America has been one of dynamic tension between democracy and oligarchy. And much like the shock of the 1929 crash woke America up to glaring inequality and the ongoing theft of democracy by that generation's oligarchs, the coronavirus pandemic of 2020 has laid bare how extensively oligarchs have looted our nation's economic system, gutted governmental institutions, and stolen the wealth of the former middle class. Thom Hartmann traces the history of this struggle against oligarchy from America's founding to the United States' war with the feudal Confederacy to President Franklin Roosevelt's struggle against “economic royalists,” who wanted to block the New Deal. In each of those cases, the oligarchs lost the battle. But with increasing right-wing control of the media, unlimited campaign contributions, and a conservative takeover of the judicial system, we're at a crisis point. Now is the time for action, before we flip into tyranny. We've beaten the oligarchs before, and we can do it again. Hartmann lays out practical measures we can take to break up media monopolies, limit the influence of money in politics, reclaim the wealth stolen over decades by the oligarchy, and build a movement that will return control of America to We the People.
- The Hidden History of American Healthcare: Why Sickness Bankrupts You and Makes Others Insanely Rich
6
Popular progressive radio host and New York Times bestselling author Thom Hartmann reveals how and why attempts to implement affordable universal healthcare in the United States have been thwarted and what we can do to finally make it a reality. "For-profit health insurance is the largest con job ever perpetrated on the American people—one that has cost trillions of dollars and millions of lives since the 1940s,” says Thom Hartmann. Other countries have shown us that affordable universal healthcare is not only possible but also effective and efficient. Taiwan's single-payer system saved the country a fortune as well as saving lives during the coronavirus pandemic, enabling the country to implement a nationwide coronavirus test-and-contact-trace program without shutting down the economy. This resulted in just ten deaths, while more than 500,000 people have died in the United States. Hartmann offers a deep dive into the shameful history of American healthcare, showing how greed, racism, and oligarchic corruption led to the current “sickness for profit” system. Modern attempts to create versions of government healthcare have been hobbled at every turn, including Obamacare. There is a simple solution: Medicare for all. Hartmann outlines the extraordinary benefits this system would provide the American people and economy and the steps we need to take to make it a reality. It's time for America to join every industrialized country in the world and make health a right, not a privilege.
- The Hidden History of Big Brother in America: How the Death of Privacy and the Rise of Surveillance Threaten Us and Our Democracy
7
America's most popular progressive radio host and New York Times bestselling author Thom Hartmann reveals how the government and corporate America misuse our personal data and shows how we can reclaim our privacy. Most Americans are worried about how companies like Facebook invade their privacy and harvest their data, but many people don't fully understand the details of how their information is being adapted and misused. In this thought-provoking and accessible book, Thom Hartmann reveals exactly how the government and corporations are tracking our every online move and using our data to buy elections, employ social control, and monetize our lives. Hartmann uses extensive, vivid examples to highlight the consequences of Big Data on all aspects of our lives. He traces the history of surveillance and social control, looking back to how Big Brother invented whiteness to keep order and how surveillance began to be employed as a way to modify behavior. As he states, “The goal of those who violate privacy and use surveillance is almost always social control and behavior modification.” Along with covering the history, Hartmann shows how we got to where we are today, how China—with its new Social Credit System—serves as a warning, and how we can and must avoid a similarly dystopian future. By delving into the Constitutional right to privacy, Hartmann reminds us of our civil right and shows how we can restore it.
- The Hidden History of American Democracy: Rediscovering Humanity's Ancient Way of Living
9
America's most popular progressive radio host and New York Times bestselling author Thom Hartmann paves the way to saving our democracy. In this powerful, sweeping history and analysis of American democracy, Thom Hartmann shows how democracy is the one form of governance most likely to produce peace and happiness among people. With the violent exception of the Civil War, American democracy resisted the pressure to disintegrate into factionalism for nearly two centuries, and now our very system of democratic elections is at stake. So how do we save our democracy? Hartmann's newest book in the celebrated Hidden History Series offers a clear call to action and a set of solutions with road maps for individuals and communities to follow to create a safer, more just society and a more equitable and prosperous economy.
- The Hidden History of Neoliberalism: How Reaganism Gutted America and How to Restore Its Greatness
8
America's most popular progressive radio host and New York Times bestselling author Thom Hartmann reveals how and why neoliberalism became so prevalent in the United States and why it's time for us to turn our backs to it. With four decades of neoliberal rule coming to an end, America is at a crossroads. In this powerful and accessible book, Thom Hartmann demystifies neoliberalism and explains how we can use this pivotal point in time to create a more positive future. This book traces the history of neoliberalism-a set of capitalistic philosophies favoring free trade, low taxes on the rich, financial austerity, and deregulation of big business-up to the present day. Hartmann explains how neoliberalism was sold as a cure for wars and the Great Depression. He outlines the destructive impact that it has had on America, looking at how it has increased poverty, damaged the middle class, and corrupted our nation's politics. America is standing on the edge of a new progressive era. We can continue down the road to a neoliberal oligarchy, as supported by many of the nation's billionaires and giant corporations. Or we can choose to return to Keynesian economics and Alexander Hamilton's American Plan by raising taxes on the rich, reversing free trade, and building a society that works for all.
Thom Hartmann
Thom Hartmann is the host of the nationally and internationally syndicated talkshow The Thom Hartmann Program and the TV show The Big Picture on the Free Speech TV network. He is the award-winning New York Times bestselling author of 24 books, including Attention Deficit Disorder: A Different Perception, ADHD and the Edison Gene, and The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight, which inspired Leonardo DiCaprio’s film The 11th Hour. A former psychotherapist and founder of the Hunter School, a residential and day school for children with ADHD, he lives in Washington, D.C.
Read more from Thom Hartmann
The Hidden History of Guns and the Second Amendment: How to Talk about Race, Religion, Politics, and Other Polarizing Topics Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hidden History of American Healthcare: Why Sickness Bankrupts You and Makes Others Insanely Rich Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Hidden History of Neoliberalism: How Reaganism Gutted America and How To Restore Its Greatness Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnequal Protection: How Corporations Became "People"—and How You Can Fight Back Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hidden History of American Oligarchy: Reclaiming Our Democracy from the Ruling Class Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hidden History of the War on Voting: Who Stole Your Vote—and How To Get It Back Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5When Money Talks: The High Price of "Free" Speech and the Selling of Democracy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDeath in the Pines: An Oakley Tyler Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Hidden History of the Supreme Court and the Betrayal of America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hidden History of Monopolies: How Big Business Destroyed the American Dream Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hidden History of Big Brother in America: How the Death of Privacy and the Rise of Surveillance Threaten Us and Our Democracy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWalking Your Blues Away: How to Heal the Mind and Create Emotional Well-Being Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Crack in the Cosmic Egg: New Constructs of Mind and Reality Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Rebooting the American Dream: 11 Ways to Rebuild Our Country Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Prophet's Way: A Guide to Living in the Now Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5ADHD and the Edison Gene: A Drug-Free Approach to Managing the Unique Qualities of Your Child Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The American Revolution of 1800: How Jefferson Rescued Democracy from Tyranny and Faction—and What This Means Today Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Healing Power of Neurofeedback: The Revolutionary LENS Technique for Restoring Optimal Brain Function Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cracking the Code: How to Win Hearts, Change Minds, and Restore America's Original Vision Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Exploring the Crack in the Cosmic Egg: Split Minds and Meta-Realities Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Screwed: The Undeclared War Against the Middle Class - And What We Can Do about It Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to The Thom Hartmann Hidden History Series
Related ebooks
The Hidden History of Guns and the Second Amendment Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Hidden History of Big Brother in America: How the Death of Privacy and the Rise of Surveillance Threaten Us and Our Democracy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Hidden History of the War on Voting: Who Stole Your Vote—and How to Get It Back Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Hidden History of the Supreme Court and the Betrayal of America Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Hidden History of Monopolies: How Big Business Destroyed the American Dream Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Hidden History of American Healthcare: Why Sickness Bankrupts You and Makes Others Insanely Rich Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hidden History of American Oligarchy: Reclaiming Our Democracy from the Ruling Class Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsScrewed: The Undeclared War Against the Middle Class - And What We Can Do about It Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hidden History of Neoliberalism: How Reaganism Gutted America and How to Restore Its Greatness Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe First Reconstruction: Black Politics in America from the Revolution to the Civil War Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBrown Is the New White: How the Demographic Revolution Has Created a New American Majority Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe American Revolution of 1800: How Jefferson Rescued Democracy from Tyranny and Faction—and What This Means Today Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Rising Tide of Color Against White World-Supremacy: The Worldview of an American Eugenicist & Ku Klux Klan Historian Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLoaded: A Disarming History of the Second Amendment Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Caged Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSummary of David Pepper's Laboratories of Autocracy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Kronstadt Rebellion Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUneasy Alliances: Race and Party Competition in America Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCaptured: The Corporate Infiltration of American Democracy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Summary of The Destructionists by Dana Milbank: The Twenty-Five Year Crack-Up of the Republican Party Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOn Fascism: 12 Lessons from American History Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Republican Party & the Journey Blackwards! Regaining The Black Vote Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLaboratories of Autocracy: A Wake-Up Call from Behind the Lines Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Privatization of Everything: How the Plunder of Public Goods Transformed America and How We Can Fight Back Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsReconstructing the National Bank Controversy: Politics and Law in the Early American Republic Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDebunking the 1619 Project: Exposing the Plan to Divide America Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Populist's Guide to 2020: A New Right and New Left are Rising Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBen Tillman and the Reconstruction of White Supremacy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Saving Democracy: A User's Manual for Every American Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNot a Crime to Be Poor: The Criminalization of Poverty in America Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Crime & Violence For You
The Madness of Crowds: Gender, Race and Identity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gavin de Becker’s The Gift of Fear Survival Signals That Protect Us From Violence | Summary Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5And The Mountains Echoed Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Death Row, Texas: Inside the Execution Chamber Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Chasing the Scream: The Inspiration for the Feature Film "The United States vs. Billie Holiday" Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Slenderman: Online Obsession, Mental Illness, and the Violent Crime of Two Midwestern Girls Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Murder at McDonald's: The Killers Next Door Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Devil You Know: Encounters in Forensic Psychiatry Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5No Visible Bruises: What We Don’t Know About Domestic Violence Can Kill Us Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bloodbath Nation Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Man from the Train: The Solving of a Century-Old Serial Killer Mystery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Evidence of Love: A True Story of Passion and Death in the Suburbs Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Worse Than Slavery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Least of Us: True Tales of America and Hope in the Time of Fentanyl and Meth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Violent Abuse of Women: In 17th and 18th Century Britain Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Summary of The 33 Strategies of War: by Robert Greene - A Comprehensive Summary Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHouse of Secrets Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Batman and Psychology: A Dark and Stormy Knight (2nd Edition) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRegarding the Pain of Others Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Whoever Fights Monsters: My Twenty Years Tracking Serial Killers for the FBI Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5No Stone Unturned: The True Story of the World's Premier Forensic Investigators Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Meditations on Violence: A Comparison of Martial Arts Training and Real World Violence Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Trial of Lizzie Borden Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Too Young to Kill Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5H. H. Holmes: The True History of the White City Devil Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for The Thom Hartmann Hidden History Series
2 ratings0 reviews