Rating  - Mobs, Messiahs and Markets.
A very entertaining book but unfortunately very true. The crowd goes for a supremely confident demagogue who, when everything comes crashing down, is unable to recognize his culpability. Obama anyone?
Rating - Very Informative Read...
I liked the writing style of any of Bonner's books and this one book, the subject is very appropriate for today's markets. I'd advice anyone concerned about where to invest their money right now to take a read.
Rating  - Sweeping assertions and poorly researched.
As i read this book, it felt more and more like a heavily opinionated diatribe that belonged on an editorial page of your local newspaper. By the time i got to chapter 6, War and Rememberance, it was more than i could take. For example, "And thus though the history of warfare is a history of appalling spectacles, though in every chapter of it the bodies are pressed like flies between the pages, almost nowhere will you find any explaination for why they are there. Who can find a single reason for World War I that justifies the inconvenience of even a single person, let alone the deaths of nine million of them?" The cause of WWI specifically is complex and subject to debate. However, to generalize this to all wars is inaccurate. Prepare youself there are numerous claims like this through out the text in different historical contexts. There are few footnotes to justify assertions or statements. The authors present themselves as historians, psychologists, economists, and i do not know what else as the text proceeds. That people could swallow this whole only affirms maybe their only central premise that people are like lemmings who accept doctrine without critical analysis. There are many books written and much cogent historical analysis of wars and their causes. The authors seem to conveniently forget that periodically tyrants rouse their populations into aggressive wars to spread their ideologies. Am i to think that those being attacked have no good reason to defend themselves? For example, am i to think that the world should have just accepted Hitler's super race program and their fate? I am sorry but this book is nonsense for the most part and it is not even worth finishing. If you desire to read a decent book on mob psychology or market psychology I recommend the following books as far superior - The Devil Take the Hindmost, Manias, Panics, and Crashes by Kindleberger, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds (1841) by Charles Mackay, or for the Psychology Perspective on Crowds and Mass Movements The True Believer by Eric Hoffer. I am sorry but this book is drivel.
Rating  - Ignorance is bliss; pursuing truth carries the risk that revelations will not be pleasant.
Mobs, Messiahs and Markets doesn't take an in depth look at just one aspect of public life. Instead, it provides the reader with a variety of topics that stimulate questions about why we do or don't do what we do. I don't care to read about historical do-gooders so the first chapter was worrisome, don't worry! I'm glad Bonner and Rajiva touch on so many subjects, not just a few. The powerful simple introduction to the Group Think phenomenon sold me on the rest of the book! William Bonner and Lila Rajiva are Patriots who provide comfort to those waking up to the skewed world we live in. Why are people so easily lead down the destructive paths politicians and bankers create and promote? How is it that Republican cross-dressers for over 80 years covet abstinence until marriage but in a short 24 hours are suddenly feigning and defending their nominee whose daughter is pregnant out of wedlock? How is it that the socialist cross-dressing democrats can suddenly covet marriage and in a short 24 hours suddenly have contempt for a child having a child out of wedlock? Read this book and get a clue.
After reading about group-think in this book, I discussed it with friends and family and surprisingly few had heard of it. Those who did recognize the term didn't realize the power it has. Group Think grants astonishing Power to the so-called leaders we elect. The authors do us all a favor by making us aware of an important phenomenon. At a time when politicians openly ignore the constitution and spend fiat money beyond their means and when main stream media outlets, i.e. radio, television and newspapers, don't provide solutions but distractions, Bonner & Rajiva, brilliantly, stimulate the reader to ask questions. One question I recently asked as result of reading this book: Why does the GOP presidential nominee promote Country First vs. America First? We all assume he means America but why not just say it? They don't give you a complete course on the Federal Reserve Bank, like "Secrets of the Temple" does; but, obviously, they didn't set out to do that. When 66% of the reviews are positive and 14% are neutral, the logical conclusion is that this book is worth buying. If you have expectations of this book and this book doesn't meet them; don't lambast the authors or the book, it's not their fault, it's your expectations fault.
Mobs, Messiahs and Markets doesn't solve anything perse, so if that's what you're looking for you won't find solutions that stand on their own. What you will discover is an awareness that stimulates thought. Are you an American striving to take back your country? This book provides you, among many things, with references to make you aware of political, financial & media trickery. The Media in collusion with
Government & Wall Street spends hundreds of thousands of dollars to develop slogans and graphics that captivate a viewer and serve an agenda. And what of the 24-hour news station that uses dramatic music, moving graphics and the word ALERT colored bright red to announce that a potential vice-presidential nominee is getting off a plane. You would think a dramatic alert of that nature would be something like a 10.0 earthquake in California. An aware viewer would see through their games and listen only to realize that their slogans and information are fake, taken out of context, dramatized for effect with an intention to distract and control the viewer's awareness. Mobs, Messiahs and Markets will slap party followers in the face; hopefully they stay awake and come out swinging. You can Google The Bankers Manifesto of 1896 as it is not illustrated in the book. The manifesto clearly shows how a small powerful group of bankers over 112 years ago had knowledge of how to control a herd or mob. They were brilliant then and proof of their brilliance is evidenced by current events. The authors brilliantly expose the do-gooder power mongers of the world and cast light on the shadows they are used to lurking in. I doubt the authors ever intended on comparing Martin Luther King to Hitler types. If your reading reviews of scorned readers keep in mind this book touches on many facets that have bankrupted investors and kept people ignorant. It appeals to the masses, so these negative reviews, in my opinion, are shallow, subjective and did not deter my interest in the book. I never got the impression I was buying an in depth book about Mobs, Messiahs, or Markets.
Expect to be stimulated with this book. What you do with that stimulation is up to you. This reader hopes you discuss the subjects of public life with a lot of people to enliven a revolution away from party politics and inflation. You might read another book to gain more depth on a subject like group think. Then you can better recognize whether you're blindly following or not. Ignorance is bliss; pursuing truth carries the risk that revelations will not be pleasant.
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