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Great Read- Unintended Consequences by John Ross


falconpilot

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Atlas Shrugged is prophetic. And Scary. And almost too insightful considering when it was written. I don't agree with ALL of it, but I can't ignore the commonalities between the story and how the world is spinning today . . .

A great read.

J

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Jim, I have to disagree about the last part being out of bounds. With the scenario presented by the book the atf agent was breaking the law to get back at a person that as far as the story was concerned, did not break the law, but had embarrassed the agent. So if it is ok for the fictional character to break the law and use his authority to get his way thru whatever means it took, then it is ok for a fictional character who is the victim to do what is necessary to defend and embarrass a govt. agency. All the book was doing was showing how as govt. gets larger it has groups that abuse the authority and that is the unintended consequence.

+1

All the LEO I personally know are also men of honor.

However, the US government has committed many atrocities including slavery, killing, starving and taking the land of many Native Americans, unscrupulous medical testing on some minorities, imprisonment of an entire race of CITIZENS during WWII, and the list goes on. And the US government is probably the best government in history IMO.

The point is that power in government corrupts and causes unintended consequences. The atrocities can only be committed through the government’s agents. The government, itself, cannot act but through their agents.

To say that the book is a blueprint for murder is misplaced IMO.

Edited by chp5
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"To say that the book is a blueprint for murder is misplaced IMO."

+1

Jim, I have to disagree about the last part being out of bounds. With the scenario presented by the book the atf agent was breaking the law to get back at a person that as far as the story was concerned, did not break the law, but had embarrassed the agent. So if it is ok for the fictional character to break the law and use his authority to get his way thru whatever means it took, then it is ok for a fictional character who is the victim to do what is necessary to defend and embarrass a govt. agency. All the book was doing was showing how as govt. gets larger it has groups that abuse the authority and that is the unintended consequence.

+1

All the LEO I personally know are also men of honor.

However, the US government has committed many atrocities including slavery, killing, starving and taking the land of many Native Americans, unscrupulous medical testing on some minorities, imprisonment of an entire race of CITIZENS during WWII, and the list goes on. And the US government is probably the best government in history IMO.

The point is that power in government corrupts and causes unintended consequences. The atrocities can only be committed through the government’s agents. The government, itself, cannot act but through their agents.

To say that the book is a blueprint for murder is misplaced IMO.

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  • 2 months later...

For those of you who didn't like the last 1/3 of Unintended Consequences: how would you suggest John Ross should have/could have ended the book?

I appreciate the suggestion to read Atlas Shrugged. I've been listening to it on audio book and am about 2/3 of the way through. Great book so far.

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However, the US government has committed many atrocities including slavery, killing, starving and taking the land of many Native Americans, unscrupulous medical testing on some minorities, imprisonment of an entire race of CITIZENS during WWII, and the list goes on. And the US government is probably the best government in history IMO.

Minor point of disagreement here. It wasn't an entire race that was imprisoned. Not even a majority. Just certain parts of the country. Pretty much the west coast. I'm am in no way excusing what happened, hell it affected a bunch of my relatives, I'm just being picky. I will tell you though, even where they weren't 'interned' Japanese were watched pretty closely by the FBI. My grandfather was in Nebraska at the time. While still in high school he was questioned by the FBI for buying batteries.

Back to topic, the book was entertaining. A little disturbing, at times it pissed me off, but taken as a whole it was a good book.

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However, the US government has committed many atrocities including slavery, killing, starving and taking the land of many Native Americans, unscrupulous medical testing on some minorities, imprisonment of an entire race of CITIZENS during WWII, and the list goes on. And the US government is probably the best government in history IMO.

Minor point of disagreement here. It wasn't an entire race that was imprisoned. . .

I will tell you though, even where they weren't 'interned' Japanese were watched pretty closely by the FBI.

Thanks for the info. It's still pretty shocking.

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  • 2 years later...

I know this thread is older than dirt, but I just wanted to say that the two books contained in this thread are some of the best books I have read in my adult life.

I truly hope that neither book is prophetic, but I can see how there are things happening today that would suggest differently.

I thoroughly enjoyed both Unintended Consequences and Atlas Shrugged.

Edited by scap99
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I first read Atlas Shrugged about four years ago and really enjoyed it. The Fountainhead is a great read also and i try to re-read each one about once a year. I will now be getting a copy of Unintended Consequences and hope it meets the standard set by the other two books i mentioned.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've wanted to read Unintended Consequences since I first heard of it a couple of years ago. Guess I'll have to go find it. I read Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead when I was in high school in the 70s. They were good -- I really ought to read them again.

Brad

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