THIS LAND IS THEIR LAND

by Barbara Ehrenreich



"When Barbara Ehrenreich wrote her take on the Reagan era, The Worst Years of Our Lives, she had no idea that the truly worst years were still two decades away. Now she takes on modern-day corporate America, the wealthy elite, and a lopsided economy with razor-sharp wit and biting humor." (From the CD container)

I don't know anything about Barbara Ehrenreich, but if I had to guess, I would say that conservatives probably react to her much as liberals react to Ann Coulter. I'm also guessing that due to some of the aforementioned "razor-sharp wit and biting humor" Ehrenreich, like Coulter, is preaching to the choir much of the time. I'm pretty sure reading This Land Is Their Land: Reports from a Divided Nation would make certain members of my deeply conservative family spontaneously combust.

I agree with the vast majority of the greater points Ehrenreich makes in this book, but she pushes some of them to such absurd lengths that even I, a tree-hugging bleeding heart, couldn't stop myself from rolling my eyes and nearly tuning out of some of the diatribes, consequently almost missing the pertinent message. Maybe that's what it takes to get some people to pay attention, but I personally prefer less extremism in my partisanship. I don't mind sarcasm, in fact it's one of my favorite things, but when it starts dripping all over my hands or gumming up my CD player I find it more annoying than enlightening. However, I do think she has some important things to say that are not terribly PC but should to be addressed. As a person who is not fond of confrontation, that is all I will say on the subject. I'll let Ehrenreich handle it in writing while I make my voice heard at the voting booth.