Review of Red Wave Imperative

[David Metimba]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Red Wave Imperative" by Alan Schein.]

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1 out of 4 stars

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Red Wave Imperative by Alan Schein is a political non-fiction book that tries to convince the American electorate to vote for the Republican party in the 2018 mid-term elections. Schein advocates for the adoption of a Voter Controlled Democracy, something akin to the Singaporean political system. This idea revolves around solving the problems posed by what he terms ‘obstructionism’ in American politics. Various issues are explored in this book. These are particular issues of concern that the American Voter will consider when making voting decisions. On the whole, the book tries to make a case for Americans to cast their votes in favor of the Republican party to varying degrees of success.

First and foremost, I am not American neither am I invested emotionally or politically in either the Democrat or Republican side. Although this book is targeted towards the American Voter, I believe readers will benefit greatly from the unbiased view of an outsider.

The first and most apparent positive aspect of this book is that it is well-structured and exceptionally well-edited. I found no grammatical errors that took away from the reading experience. The text is very clear and easy on the eyes; compliments to the editor.

This was also a very interactive book. There is good use of rhetoric where it is needed, prompting readers to ask themselves questions and formulate their own opinions on the matter being discussed. There are also options to vote on various issues of concern at the end of most submissions by the author. This was a welcome approach especially due to the goal of this book, getting people to vote.

On the other hand, there are aspects of this book that took away from it in a major way. This book was meant to persuade voters to vote Republican in the 2018 mid-term elections; bias was inevitable. However, I was unprepared for the total disregard of objectivity by the author. While he initially concedes that the ‘blame game’ is retrogressive and does not lead to any meaningful progress, Schein goes on to blame the 'New Democratic Party' for the problems Americans face or might face socially, politically, and economically. There are chapters on the threats of terrorism, civil war, and economic collapse among others. In every instance, the author finds an avenue to attach blame to the Democrat side, at the same time proposing that somehow the Republican party is the magical solution to these problems. Schein's tactic here seems to have been to play on people's fears of things like socialism, terrorism, and economic collapse to get them to vote in his favor.

Another thing I did not like was the author's misleading coverage of various incidents he alludes to as evidence for his claims. There are numerous instances where Schein selectively picks the facts so they are just enough to prove the point he is trying to make, but not enough to give the reader a full picture where it runs contrary to his arguments. Any credibility on the author's part was lost when I realized this. This was particularly deceptive.

There were many issues the author raised that seem to at least merit some investigation by the reader; however, Schein’s strong biases and an evident lack of compromise or moderation take the attention away from this. Cogent points and strong arguments were made in the book, but it was the contradiction and heavy bias that stood out more prominently. The author could have exercised some restraint and tried to convince instead of patronizing.

Regrettably, I give this book 1 out of 4 stars. Giving it 2 stars would have meant I'm undecided as to whether this is a book worth reading or not; I'm unequivocal on this point. On the other hand, giving anything above 2 stars would be a gross misrepresentation regarding the quality of this work on my part.

I concluded that this book and what it represents has no place on people's bookshelves. I do not believe it serves any value other than to advance one person's agenda, neither does it seem to be capable of doing much good to the prospects of the Republican party. This work is marred by contradictions and the strong bias towards not just the Republican goals, but the furtherance of the author's agenda. In light of this, I do not recommend this book to anyone, Democrat or Republican. Maybe read this book as an outsider observing American politics. Other than that, I would especially not recommend Americans basing a voting decision on the contents of this book.

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Red Wave Imperative
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[Nonso Ok]

Wow. I admire your brutal honesty about how you feel about this book.

[marta baglioni]

I would not have expected less by this book, honestly. I am glad you have been absolutely objective and thorough with this review. Thank you!

[David Metimba]

Wow. I admire your brutal honesty about how you feel about this book.

I was also surprised how the review finally came out. At first it was just utter disbelief at the various misrepresentations which then morphed into this critic review. I believe honestly is the best policy; thank you for taking the time to leave a comment. Greatly appreciated.

[David Metimba]

I would not have expected less by this book, honestly. I am glad you have been absolutely objective and thorough with this review. Thank you!

Although we have different perspectives on things, objectivity should come first. A lot of that objectivity was lacking in the book so I thought the review would compensate in a way.

For a book that was meant to persuade and convince I found myself wanting to put it down a lot. In all honesty the author's approach is ineffective; I think he alienated a good number of people as a result.

Thanks for the comment!

[Josephe-Anne]

I am not into politics, so a book like this would rarely pique my interest. It's too bad that the author was so biased in his presentation of the information. This book was clearly intended to persuade Americans to vote Republican. However, I agree with the points that you made.

Thank you for your well-written review.