Nuggets For The Noggin

DON’T BURN THIS BOOK

Thinking For Yourself In An Age of Unreason

By Dave Rubin

A book review by Jim “Gymbeaux” Brown, 7 May 2020

Consider just this one paragraph taken from this book:

“…losing a debate isn’t a sign of stupidity or weakness, but a sign of growth if you’re willing to embrace it with humility.”

It was when I read that one sentence I realized that this book was indeed very special, at least to me .It is a book that as you read it, you find yourself putting the book down, taking a sip of your coffee, sitting back in your chair and not just think about what you have  read, you truly think about what you have just read.  Most books you just read, a sentence, a paragraph or a page, one at a time.  This book I found impossible to do that with because it did make me want to think not only about what Rubin had written but more importantly how I felt about what he had written and I began to question my own beliefs about a lot of very topical subjects

Look at the sub-title of the book, “Thinking For Yourself In An Age of Unreason.”  In my opinion Rubin has created a book that accomplishes that, it makes you think, maybe for the first time regarding some very important subjects.

As background, Rubin points out that he was born Jewish in a stable family life in the New York City area.  Went to college and grew up like so many people from that part of the country having strong left, Liberal beliefs. Rubin also describes how he is gay and married.  He draws a picture of someone people on the political right would describe as being Liberal thinking.  But his beliefs have significantly changed in a relatively short-period of time.  He explains how the change took place in this book and why the changes occurred.  He talks about such subjects as abortion, minimum wage, racism, language, sexism, transgenderism, education, free speech, gun control, etc.

The value of this book can be summarized in the last two paragraphs of Chapter 9:

“You’ve never had such incredible power and reach.  We have no idea how that awesome power has changed the world already and will continue to do so.  So how are you going to use that power?  What do you want to put out into the universe?”

“Begin your adventure now and you will be amazed at how you can change your world.”

Who should read this book?  Since it would benefit everyone, everyone should read it but especially those who still believe in a perceived honesty of the news media.

Would I read it again?  Probably not, the lessons of the book were well learned.

Would I give it as a gift?  ABSOLUTELY!