Staff Review: "Addicted to Outrage" by Glenn Beck

We live in divisive times, my friends. Recent polling data shows that a majority of Americans believe that American politics have reached a dangerous low point. It is easy to become outraged at nearly anything these days. We see or hear something that has been said or posted on the internet and, if the offender differs from us politically, we can easily work ourselves into a lather and express our virulent disagreement without really listening or trying to understand where that person is coming from or what they are trying to say. In his new book, Addicted to Outrage, Glenn Beck makes the case that we are just that.

With a background in talk radio and a television resume that includes a nightly show on both CNN and Fox News, Glenn Beck is a political commentator who is reasonable, educated, and often entertaining and enlightening. He is a conservative, but any liberal readers out there should not eschew this book due to a difference of politics. In fact, Beck wrote this book  in an attempt to bring individuals of disparate political beliefs together and to encourage diversity of thought and reasoned discourse. He is appropriately critical of both sides of the political spectrum (including his own past use of outrage to discredit opponents) and their reliance on outrage to push their agendas and inspire ire for the other side. Beck encourages Americans to truly listen to one another, do their own research, check their outrage at the door, and attempt to come together as a nation. 

In this book, Beck gets back to the basics in an examination of those three documents that set America apart from every other nation that has emerged on this planet: the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. He asserts that these three documents continue to guarantee that which has made America the greatest country in the history of the world: liberty for the individual. Let's not squander that over the things that divide us; rather, let's have a real conversation, sans the mudslinging. Our politicians could learn a lot from this book.

Beck urges his readers, regardless or even in spite of political disagreement, to give these ideas a try. The author asserts that the American Experiment is too important to allow to fall into disrepair due to what often amount to petty differences. If, dear reader, you feel the same I recommend this book. The author's ideas just may help us overcome our addiction to outrage and begin to come together as Americans.

~Ryan, Circulation