Rate this book

The Secret Knowledge: On The Dismantling Of American Culture (2011)

by David Mamet(Favorite Author)

3.81 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

1595230769 (ISBN13: 9781595230768)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Sentinel HC

review 1: (En español más abajo)I was expectant of this book by the great script writer David Mamet. I loved his work, even when I knew him to be just another voice from the self-righteous left, the elitist and intellectual left. And I could only forgive myself for liking his work because the man has talent, no question about it. Mamet explains what happened in his live, what he saw around him, that influenced him into leaving the Socialist-Liberal cocoon and becoming a Conservative, and what's harder to do: to go public about it.As I was reading I was smiling, and thinking how lucky I had been not having gone through the same revelations Mamet had to go through. But his intellectual honesty won the day in the end. Many sure will take years to realize how they are being part of a ... morefarce, and benefiting from it, to the detriment of the great majority of society, but -lacking honesty or courage -or both- will never quit and go public about it. Mamet did, with complete honesty, and I have to say too, with total candidness. Candidness or courage, again. With only a year, I believe, from his political conversion, he might be having second thoughts, knowing how without compassion the left treats its critics. But I think Mamet will be alright. His faith in the God of the Jews, and of Christians, will sustain him through.And I was greatly amazed at how an intelligent man, even a man with the open mind Mamet has, can be deluded into assuming without questioning the rightness of the Leftist agenda. Only with time and intellectual honesty did he become not only aware, but critical, of those propaganda slogans he had been made to believe. The devil is a great liar, and selects those lies we are predisposed to believe. It seems unbelievable, but it is true: some people prefer to be serfs, slaves, that is, rather than free individuals. It saves them from thinking; it saves them from fighting to bring home the daily sustenance; it saves them from thinking about what the day may bring tomorrow. It's a price more people than we think are willing to pay. And upon this knowledge, that seems so improbable at first thought, some people act. This knowledgeable people take advantage of the weakness, the necessity, and the poverty of many. The knowledgeable assume the role of the weak and the poor, but they are neither weak nor poor, and nevertheless their farce seems to work. Now, a Conservative (a Reaganite, i.e.), a free thinker, a Libertarian stand on one basic thing: Freedom. Freedom as a means to an end (i.e. the pursuit of happiness), and an end in itself. But to those who have no end other than picking up the crumbs handed out by the "caring" elite, what good is freedom, anyway?Thanks to this book I found out that living in the West today is not a matter of choosing sides; it is rather of who's doing the choosing for you.En Español:Es verdaderamente un mito extendido por los creadores del pensamiento único el camelo de que sólo son intelectuales, gente inteligente, los miembros de la progresía social. El cine, la literatura, el arte en general deben ser reducto solo de los socialistas y afines, creen ellos. Y quien se salga del discurso único-social será excluido, callado e ignorado; porque tanto el cine, la literatura, y el arte en general son medios de propaganda demasiado valiosos para dejar en manos de independientes, de gente que no obedece a los dictados de quienes les subvenciona. David Mamet pertenecía a esa camarilla muy numerosa en Estados Unidos. Pero en Estados Unidos, afortunadamente, aunque tienen mucho dinero, y por consiguiente poder, los progres no son mayoría, y al fin y al cabo sí hay salida para aquellos artistas que no quieran someterse -como Mamet- a los dictados de la demagogia de la izquierda política. Cierto que Mamet se ha labrado una brillantísima carrera de dramaturgo y como guionista de cine y televisión formándose en esas filas. Pero más vale tarde que nunca.En este libro de memorias y confesiones, donde se relacionan vivencias personales y política, además de cultura, Mamet se confiesa al lector y da buenos argumentos para que éste comprenda los motivos no solo de su viraje político, sino el origen de su mentalidad izquierdista y su progresivo desencantamiento. Criado entre progres millonarios, en un cocoon social donde la elite privilegiada vive vida de conservadores, pero predica la vida progre, sin darse cuenta de la ironía, solo siendo -como Mamet- sincero con uno mismo podrá uno examinar su conciencia, creencias e ideas, y -si éstas se probaran falsas- podrá vivir conforme a esas nuevas ideas. Nada más publicarse el libro los que antes le adulaban, las revistas y crítica progresista se echó en su contra. Pero Mamet no necesita de ellos. Y Mamet es americano: no le va a faltar trabajo por ello.Es alentador ver cómo hay todavía personas que tienen el valor de actuar conforme a sus ideas, y de exponerse a dar un giro tan radical, pero razonado, en su forma de ver el mundo y, más concretamente, el "mundo" cultural dentro de Estados Unidos. Y personalmente me alegra una barbaridad, porque David Mamet no solo es un escritor genial, que causaba envidia entre colegas de todo el mundo, y admiración entre los fans de sus obras y películas, sino que ha demostrado tener coraje, personalidad, valor, e integridad. Y dejo para el final una última perla: es de los pocos americanos judíos que no renuncian a defender ardorosamente a Israel.David Mamet no ha roto con las ideas de la izquierda para defender las de las derechas (en plural), sino que ha roto con la izquierda para poder defender sus ideas, las suyas propias. Y si esas ideas, libres, coinciden en algo con las de los conservadores, pues mejor para los conservadores.
review 2: David Mamet's anecdotes and illuminations explain why American liberalism is one vast specter of cognitive self-alienation and hypocrisy, and why he himself has finally come to his senses after sixty years of unthinkingly blending in with the herd of "social justice" mongers and other nincompoops. This book is an easy read and might give you some psychological ammunition for future dealings with the drones of the liberal hive mind. less

Download links for: The Secret Knowledge: On the Dismantling of American Culture

Advertising