"The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot" by Naomi Wolf 

Published by Chelsea Green Publishing (September, 2007)

Review by Tony Spizuoco

Naomi Wolf 'The End Of America' book coverNaomi Wolf claims that we are at war – “a war for our civilization…a war to save our democracy” – but not with whom you would think (terrorists, Islam or fill-in-the-blanks).  We are at war, she writes, with our own leaders.

“The End of America” is a primer, a warning, and a call to action; it is a call to combat the “Ten Steps” that close down pluralistic societies.  Wolf sees a systematic dismantling of our hard won rights and liberties and while not saying directly that the Bush administration is a fascist regime, she warns us of a “drift” in that direction. 
Wolf’s research into past use of state repression gives substance to her claims.  She documents the actions of such tyrannies as Hitler’s Germany, Stalin’s Russia and Mussolini’s Italy among others to come up with the “Ten Steps” that were used by these dictators to eradicate the democratic process.  With these ten steps in place they were able to take complete control of their nations.

Of the United States she says, “We are seeing each of the basic ten steps being put into place here in the U.S. today – more quietly, more gradually and sometimes more elegantly: but each is underway.”

Wolf has written a potent analysis of how the concentration and misuse of power by autocrats can destroy the legitimate functioning of republics and democracies. The book has copious footnotes and enables anyone wishing to corroborate her statements to do so.  An index would have been helpful, but in no way detracts from the book as a primer on freedom.

Outside Independence Hall, a woman asked Ben Franklin as he left on the final days of the Constitutional Convention, “Well, doctor, what have we got – a republic or a monarchy?”  Responded Franklin, “A Republic, if you can keep it.”

Naomi Wolf thinks that we can keep it, but only by concerted action on the part of all informed and galvanized citizens.