Beyond Outrage

A good, quick overview of our troubles

Robert Reich does a good job of summarizing the sickness in America's Public Sector without skimping too much on the details. Very informative and concise. $10 for 3 hours of content is pretty steep. Podcasts do 3 hours for free. That said, if you're in the market for a progressive introduction to Political Activism, this is not a bad place to start.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Falls short

I was looking for some insight on economic and social inequality after seeing a clip of Robert Reich speaking about the topic on a news program. I bought this without knowing much about the author, but he didn't sound like a demagogue and the reviews are so glowing that I thought it would be an interesting listen. The last 3 hours of listening to semi-hysterical talking points have proven me wrong.

This book is probably well regarded on Audible for the same reason that Ann Coulter's toxic brand of punditry get high marks - most people who buy Beyond Outrage are the proverbial choir.

The three part book can roughly be summed up as:

Part 1: Big business and it's senior leadership are wealthy sociopaths.
Part 2: The republican party lacks compassion.
Part 3: Get out and demonstrate/debate

As a left of middle moderate who understands our financial system reasonably well, I found Reich's arguments to be fairly standard Democratic rhetoric. I did not hear technology, globalization, or economic efficiency mentioned at all. As huge contributors to the current state of the world's economies, these are usually central concepts when discussing long term solutions to US economic woes. Additionally, Reich is strangely mute on the rising bar of entry for would be entrepreneurs and how that impacts economic and social inequality by closing the door on the traditional American method for bootstrapping out of poverty.

Ultimately, this book addresses a really complex set of issues in a short period of time. The approach means that a lot of things are going to be rolled up into oversimplified sound bytes, but it doesn't mean that the material has to come across as political propaganda. Unfortunately, I can't help but feel like I've been at a three hour Occupy Wall Street rally. If you are looking for intuitive, insightful commentary on the current state of the US economy and its challenges, you might want to look elsewhere.

10 of 14 people found this review helpful

Sec. of Labor explains it all so well.

If you could sum up Beyond Outrage in three words, what would they be?

Interesting, enlightening, factual

Have you listened to any of Robert B. Reich’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

One of Robert Reich's best books.

If you could give Beyond Outrage a new subtitle, what would it be?

Here is what really is going on with our country and economy... and a look behind the scenes.

Any additional comments?

Robert Reich is not only a compelling author, he's a great narrator.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Great story, lousy editing.

If you could sum up Beyond Outrage in three words, what would they be?

good story weak editting

Any additional comments?

I don't know if it is because of change of ownership or shakeup of editing department, but the quality of Audible.com books has slipped recently. Numerous incidents of "double passages" where one sentence is read and immediately followed by same portion of authors text with minor change of word or two. Ends up being "double speak". Not at all up to the former standard of quality of audio books.

6 of 9 people found this review helpful

Smart. Clear. Reasonable.

This book was obviously written around the time that Romney was becoming the front-runner in the race and Paul Ryan was gaining prominence as a conservative economic force. And it pretty much lays down the talking points for moderate-to-progressive political thought on the election and the economy. Frankly, I'm outraged more people haven't read this book.

7 of 12 people found this review helpful

Good Diagnosis

Reich's analysis and diagnosis of what's wrong in American politics and business today is spot-on. This is as succinct and detailed and clear an explanation as you will get anywhere. Few people can condense the problem into such a short summary without distorting something along the way. I don't always agree with his solutions; I'm skeptical that giving the federal government more power is going to solve the problems that giving government more power has created in the first place. But that's a democrat for you.

That aside, Reich is an excellent audiobook reader. His passion for the subject and his intelligence shine through. He has a great voice for this and ought to do it more often.

Loved it! I'm going to buy all of his books!

I've learned so much from Robert Reich's books! Very informative. I also have to mention how pleasant he is to listen to. His voice is like a warm drink on a cold winters day.

My review

Great book! very informative, thought provoking and eye opener in many ways. Robert Reich is a hero of our times. I will give this book a 4.8 out of 5. I don't even know if I am doing a fair justice by not giving it 5 out of 5. There are only 2 reasons I can think of for taking away 0.2 points 1. I am personally looking for a bit more details on few things such as the reasoning behind the specific numbers, percentages, and figures on taxes etc.
2. The book is America centric, though nothing wrong with that but since the population of America is so diverse and from all around the world, establishing a connection between right policies and prosperity in the country to similar results in other countries in the world is necessary to have people see the repercussions across the world from positive changes within the country.

Great analysis!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Robert Reich gives a thoughtful and well-documented analysis of the policies of the past 30 years that have widened the divide between the wealthiest and the middle class in the United States.

What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?

Robert Reich's analysis is playing out in the current presidential election.

Not Reich's best

Any additional comments?

I love Robert Reich, but of the several books of his that I have read, this is by far the worst. "Supercapitalism", for instance, is a five star book, but don't waste your time on "Beyond Outrage".