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callunavulgaris's review against another edition
challenging
informative
medium-paced
3.75
This book was excellent (as was the audiobook). I can see David Vine updating this every decade or so. My only qualm is that he didn’t address the likely conservative rebuke of moving bases to domestic locales as an infringement on “states rights.” Which is hilarious given that is what Vine addresses in this book, that bases are a colonizing agent.
stevia333k's review against another edition
5.0
if you read between the lines, then this book is extremely helpful. While this book doesn't criticize cops enough & seems to take too much of a social democrat view on explicit action items, the author also wrote this in the "author's notes" section not included in the audiobook:
"In this book, I have tried to befair and to consider as many perspectives as possible on every issue Iexamined. As my ideas and conclusions took shape, I particularly tried toconsider points of view opposite my own. ¶ I think a good measure of fairness is whether, before publication, onecan share one’s writing with interviewees with whom one might disagree.To that end, I showed drafts of sections and chapters to as many peopleinvolved in the research as possible and gave them opportunities to offerfeedback, suggestions, and corrections. I am thankful for the opennesswith which so many people read my writing, especially when theydissented from my perspectives, and the helpful corrections that theyoffered"
So that while the information is factual, this book can end up favoring recuperation because the way conspiracy theories work is they'll splice 2 or more conspiracies together in order to encrypt the cause & effect. For example, the problem with 5G is that it increases surveillance capabilities of the govt & it also ruins meterology equipment back 40 years in the middle of a climate cataclysm. it has nothing to do disease. likewise diseases popping up is partly part of a design of production lines which you then get like contractors to profit off of. While this book overall doesn't talk about these partly due to this being from 2015 from the George W Bush & Obama eras, not the Trump era, still.
So basically, this book self-censored, but if you read between the lines, it's extremely informative, and paired with other texts, such as how indigenous peoples get oppressed in USA etc, so on & so forth, you'll figure out the parts that were censored. however, new information since then, such as the increased use of mercenaries instead of troops (which combines profiteering with whack-a-mole) helps show how conservatively the author estimated the excesses to be.
"In this book, I have tried to befair and to consider as many perspectives as possible on every issue Iexamined. As my ideas and conclusions took shape, I particularly tried toconsider points of view opposite my own. ¶ I think a good measure of fairness is whether, before publication, onecan share one’s writing with interviewees with whom one might disagree.To that end, I showed drafts of sections and chapters to as many peopleinvolved in the research as possible and gave them opportunities to offerfeedback, suggestions, and corrections. I am thankful for the opennesswith which so many people read my writing, especially when theydissented from my perspectives, and the helpful corrections that theyoffered"
So that while the information is factual, this book can end up favoring recuperation because the way conspiracy theories work is they'll splice 2 or more conspiracies together in order to encrypt the cause & effect. For example, the problem with 5G is that it increases surveillance capabilities of the govt & it also ruins meterology equipment back 40 years in the middle of a climate cataclysm. it has nothing to do disease. likewise diseases popping up is partly part of a design of production lines which you then get like contractors to profit off of. While this book overall doesn't talk about these partly due to this being from 2015 from the George W Bush & Obama eras, not the Trump era, still.
So basically, this book self-censored, but if you read between the lines, it's extremely informative, and paired with other texts, such as how indigenous peoples get oppressed in USA etc, so on & so forth, you'll figure out the parts that were censored. however, new information since then, such as the increased use of mercenaries instead of troops (which combines profiteering with whack-a-mole) helps show how conservatively the author estimated the excesses to be.
hbeags's review against another edition
5.0
this was a really well done look at the us imperial machine. the reoccurring looks at based in specific countries (south korea, japan, italy, honduras) in different aspects did perfect justice to horrors inflicted globally. the tie-in of personal experience also showed how meticulously researched this book was, and showed the passion of the author. the last chapter was a great ending and succinctly explained how much the united states loses in what it could give its people by pouring unnecessary funding abroad.
estherrosedq's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
5.0
Incredibly well researched and incredibly informative. The author supports his argument very well
oddreader1's review against another edition
5.0
This book hurts to read as a United States citizen but i think it makes for a great perspective from the outside looking in.
crunden's review against another edition
This is amazingly well researched. I'll be coming back to it a lot, for sure!
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