The Sovereign Individual: How to Survive and Thrive During the Collapse of the Welfare State: Amazon.ca: Books

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The coming of the year 2000 has haunted the Western imagination for the past thousand years. Read the first page

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Customer Reviews

48 Reviews

5 star:		(28)
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4.2 out of 5 stars (48 customer reviews)

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4.0 out of 5 stars Impressive but needs balance, July 15 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Sovereign Individual: Mastering the Transition to the Information Age (Paperback)

This is probably a work of most impressive historical analysis as I have read ever. It had a great impact on my way of thinking but I have some reservations that might be of interest to new readers.

Authors prove that logic of violence explains most of human progress in western history but they end up skewing it towards the narrow realm of simplistic political structure of the west, conservatives VS librels. To be a work of real depth the authors should have given more attention to the other 'neccessary evil ;)' side of the capitalistic equation, i-e the economic impact and future of labor capital, and the underpreviledged in a society.

The capitalists can't logicaly sustain limitless greed in the name of output and efficiency, and be happy go lucky customers who control the government. All this efficiency through technology is truely great, but people operate techology and there are ones who don't, aren't capitalists, but still manage to do beautiful things, unseen or unsung. will you say they are not smart as capitalists?

Also, I think in essence so-called 'Muslim Fundamentalists' want the same thing captalists want, 'a better life' through logic of violence. So what is the difference?

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5.0 out of 5 stars Another Great Look At Economic History, Jun 8 2009

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Patrick Sullivan (Kingston, Ont. Canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Sovereign Individual: Mastering the Transition to the Information Age (Paperback)

This book offered some great insights into the Protestant Reformation. They point out how the Church was trying to crush the new innovations of the era. The Church had also become a massive bureaucracy, that was suppressing economic growth. They compare this to the current welfare democracies of the western world. The huge growth of governments, taxes, and regulation, seems to sound a lot like the Pre-Reformation Church.
The authors seem to feel the new Internet technology will have a huge changing effect on society. They compare this to the changes brought on by the invention of the printing press 500 years ago.

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5.0 out of 5 stars brilliant, Feb 5 2003

By

Erik Rogneby (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Sovereign Individual: Mastering the Transition to the Information Age (Paperback)

Whether it be Genesis as a parable for the agricultural revolution, or our mistrust of politicians and bureaucrats as a sign of impending change, this book provides insights into both where humanity has been and where it is going.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it!
So said a wise philospher!

This book could have easily had this maxim as its subtitle. The authors cogently, and compellingly use historical trends to show that democracy as we... Read more

Published on May 23 2002 by Rocco B. Rubino

2.0 out of 5 stars cyberspace is no substitute for community
The authors in their eager and fanatical attempts to avoid

paying taxes propose a future where individuals are sovereign. Read more

Published on April 11 2002 by Tony Merante

5.0 out of 5 stars a well reasoned guide to the next 25 years
This book contains an explanatory theory of what the authors call Megapolitics. The theory is grounded in three past revolutions and predicts that we are in the middle of a... Read more

Published on Jan 7 2002

5.0 out of 5 stars Macro History
Like MegaTrends, Future Shock, and the Third Wave, this book depicts the world with multiple epics in World History. Read more

Published on Dec 7 2001 by AngryWhiteMan

3.0 out of 5 stars The Unabomber would love this book.
The Sovereign Individual was somewhat interesting reading. It would have been more interesting, if it had'nt been written in such an overly complex, over-intellectualized style... Read more

Published on Nov 29 2001 by Jerry Erwin

5.0 out of 5 stars Bold. Epic. Awesome
In the Sovereign Individual, Davidson and Rees-Mogg take you on a sweeping journey of history and technology in demonstrating how institutions employing coercion on a mass... Read more

Published on Oct 29 2001 by Ryan Carr