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There's Nothing in the Middle of the Road but Yellow Stripes and Dead Armadillos: A Work of Political Subversion
Hightower is at it again, this time taking aim at those bedrock institutions that drive the economic and cultural life of the country. As the man himself says, "I am an agitator, and an agitator is the center post in a washing machine that gets the dirt out." In this lucid, viciously funny, downright refreshing book, Hightower argues that government, the media and corporate conglomerates have put us smack-dab in the middle of the mess we're in today. Leaving almost no contemporary issue unscathed, he lays bare the dirty politics behind the new global economy, exposing how these three institutions have undermined basic American values like justice, fairness, tolerance and opportunity; how they've steamrolled the common people, ignoring their needs; how they've created an oppressive and oppressing machine that keeps the downtrodden downtrodden. Author, radio commentator, public speaker and political sparkplug, Hightower doesn't gripe and whine, he offers commonsense solutions to controversial issues. In language everyone can understand, he tackles big issues and proposes strategies that are easy to implement. Calling on the poor and middleclass, the groups he claims represent a true populist majority, he shows how an already strong grassroots movement can be made even stronger. Arguing for change on the local level, Hightower demonstrates exactly how this can be accomplished.
292 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1997
31 people are currently reading
134 people want to read
About the author
Jim Hightower
39 books23 followersJames Allen Hightower is an American syndicated columnist, progressive political activist, and author. From 1983 to 1991 he served as elected commissioner of the Texas Department of Agriculture.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
December 3, 2016
History Repeats - Again
Mr. Hightower's 1998 book is applicable to current events and could have been taken from today's headlines. His call to the Democratic Party to "BE Democrats again" is prescient; the pain of the working class, and the belief that "politicians" could not be trusted to respond to it, carried "outsider" Donald Trump into the presidency. This book should be required reading for all Democrats who aspire to public office.
Mr. Hightower's 1998 book is applicable to current events and could have been taken from today's headlines. His call to the Democratic Party to "BE Democrats again" is prescient; the pain of the working class, and the belief that "politicians" could not be trusted to respond to it, carried "outsider" Donald Trump into the presidency. This book should be required reading for all Democrats who aspire to public office.
November 14, 2016
This particular work is written as part of an internal debate within the Democratic party between those Democrats like Bill (and Hillary) Clinton whose move to the middle, at least in their own mind, was occasioned by obtaining the support of cultural, economic, and political elites, and those more populist and progressive and even radical Democrats who sought to bring home the bacon to working class whites and minorities and who often had a more conservative social streak. The author is clearly in that second camp, and he belongs to a particular political species that at this point in time is nearly extinct: the populist Southern Democrat. At the time this book was written in 1998, Republicans had already started making much of the South their domain, and the handwriting was on the political wall, but in the nearly two decades since then, the picture has gotten considerably more grim for the author and those of his particular political tribe. To be sure, such people as the author do exist, I happen to know some of them myself, Texans with a taste for left-wing populism, but such people no longer win political office and even within the Democratic party such people seemingly no longer have a political home at present.
The contents of this book are written in a fashion that combines left-wing political thought with a certain brand of humor. The author makes it plain in his particular political pronouncements, his support of political cartoonists in very left-wing places like New York City, San Francisco, Portland, Austin, and Chicago, and in the fact that he supports such corrupt groups as ACORN that he is by no means a moderate and that he rejects outright moderation. The title of this book ought to make that much plain, and the book is written in much the same vein of amusing but irresponsible grandstanding, the sort that gets one elected to local and statewide office in Texas, at least once upon a time. The almost 300 pages of this book are divided into chapters on the rise of corporatism, the class warfare that is waged against ordinary commonfolk, the corporatist media, pollution, and politics. The author manages to be broadminded enough to encourage among fellow Democrats a willingness to court socially conservative but economically moderate to liberal Christian voters, of which I am one, and this book must be engaged to fellow political movers and shakers as an example of intraparty advocacy [1]. It should also be noted that this book has been entirely useless in actually leading the Democratic party to cease waging their destructive cultural war on the American public, something which has largely led to the extinction of the Democratic party in the South and may even be making it harder for Democrats to hold on to the blue collar voters of the rust belt, as we have seen in the recent election.
So, how is one to view this book? On the one hand, the author is certainly cynical and his support of radical causes is highly troubling, as the author can be said to be an early example of the mindset that led to the occupy movement and that can also be seen as the core of support for the candidacy of Bernie Sanders in 2016. On the other hand, the author taps into the sort of popular anger with cultural elites that I personally share, and that has led to the rise of many kinds of insurgent political campaigns like Perot, Buchanan, the Tea Party, and Donald Trump's recent campaign on the right along with other populist campaigns on the left that the author would likely support and endorse and may even have been involved in. The author manages to point out many of the problems that have resulted from increased power among our elites, including the concentration of political and economic powers in the hand of a corporatist elite that supports increased welfare for the wealthy and has largely corrupted the political discourse within our country, at least as far as the mainstream media is concerned. I would say that the author and I agree on the problems he discusses but disagree strongly on the solutions. Nevertheless, the agreement is a partial one and to that extent, this is a book that is worthwhile to read in order to see with the eyes of progressive radicals who are seeking to be their most broadminded, which is when they are at their most appealing. If this book is a bridge or two too far for the reader, it is likely that nothing from the progressive camp could be more appealing. It only goes downhill from here.
[1] It should be noted that I read this sort of book fairly often. See, for example:
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
The contents of this book are written in a fashion that combines left-wing political thought with a certain brand of humor. The author makes it plain in his particular political pronouncements, his support of political cartoonists in very left-wing places like New York City, San Francisco, Portland, Austin, and Chicago, and in the fact that he supports such corrupt groups as ACORN that he is by no means a moderate and that he rejects outright moderation. The title of this book ought to make that much plain, and the book is written in much the same vein of amusing but irresponsible grandstanding, the sort that gets one elected to local and statewide office in Texas, at least once upon a time. The almost 300 pages of this book are divided into chapters on the rise of corporatism, the class warfare that is waged against ordinary commonfolk, the corporatist media, pollution, and politics. The author manages to be broadminded enough to encourage among fellow Democrats a willingness to court socially conservative but economically moderate to liberal Christian voters, of which I am one, and this book must be engaged to fellow political movers and shakers as an example of intraparty advocacy [1]. It should also be noted that this book has been entirely useless in actually leading the Democratic party to cease waging their destructive cultural war on the American public, something which has largely led to the extinction of the Democratic party in the South and may even be making it harder for Democrats to hold on to the blue collar voters of the rust belt, as we have seen in the recent election.
So, how is one to view this book? On the one hand, the author is certainly cynical and his support of radical causes is highly troubling, as the author can be said to be an early example of the mindset that led to the occupy movement and that can also be seen as the core of support for the candidacy of Bernie Sanders in 2016. On the other hand, the author taps into the sort of popular anger with cultural elites that I personally share, and that has led to the rise of many kinds of insurgent political campaigns like Perot, Buchanan, the Tea Party, and Donald Trump's recent campaign on the right along with other populist campaigns on the left that the author would likely support and endorse and may even have been involved in. The author manages to point out many of the problems that have resulted from increased power among our elites, including the concentration of political and economic powers in the hand of a corporatist elite that supports increased welfare for the wealthy and has largely corrupted the political discourse within our country, at least as far as the mainstream media is concerned. I would say that the author and I agree on the problems he discusses but disagree strongly on the solutions. Nevertheless, the agreement is a partial one and to that extent, this is a book that is worthwhile to read in order to see with the eyes of progressive radicals who are seeking to be their most broadminded, which is when they are at their most appealing. If this book is a bridge or two too far for the reader, it is likely that nothing from the progressive camp could be more appealing. It only goes downhill from here.
[1] It should be noted that I read this sort of book fairly often. See, for example:
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
July 15, 2022
I picked this for around three dollars at a used bookstore, and it was well worth around that. The title was intriguing. And it is refreshing to see that folks were upset about corporatism, and the insidious influence of corporations into every day life and politics.
But the writing is dated, and reads like an angry Bill Mahr rant. Which is fine in short spurts, but not an entire book worth.
But the writing is dated, and reads like an angry Bill Mahr rant. Which is fine in short spurts, but not an entire book worth.
June 30, 2016
"Hightower is mad as hell and he's not going to take it anymore! He's also funny as hell, and in this book he focuses his sharp Texas wit, populist passion, and native smarts on America's political, economic, scientific, and media establishments. There's Nothing in the Middle of the Road but Yellow Stripes and Dead Armadillos leaves none of the moneyed establishment's sacred cows standing. It's lucid, smart, downright refreshing --and funny, funny, funny.
"No one in politics today can tell a story like Jim Hightower does, bringing home a hard-hitting message, yet keeping his audience doubled up with laughter. You may have heard one of his many speeches, frequently covered by C-SPAN, or you may have heard him weekdays on his nationally syndicated radio program, Hightower Radio: Live from the Chat & Chew. In the tradition of Mark Twain and Will Rogers, he skewers the powers-that-be in our country on behalf of what he calls the powers-that-ought-to-be -- America's workaday majority.
"Now he's concentrated his political outrage and irreverent humor in this important book. Hightower whacks the conventional wisdom right upside the head, daring to point out that not only is class war raging across America, but it's being waged by the powerful and privileged against the middle class. The 'ism' that we have to worry about is not socialism, he argues, but corporatism -- a rising phenomenon that he documents here in detail, naming names.
"This book is rich in personal anecdotes and well-researched facts, and it's sprinkled throughout with Hightower's tell-it-like-it-is characterizations of the high-and-mighty, such as:
"Newt Gingrich: 'The higher the monkey climbs the more you see of its ugly side.'
"Bill Clinton: 'A pusillanimous president,' 'a quisling in the class war," and 'an embarrassment to the party of Jefferson and Jackson, Roosevelt and Truman, JFK and LBJ.'
"Wall Street: 'Sure Wall Street is whizzing. It's whizzing on you and me.'
"Two Party System: Some say we need a third party. I say we need a second one,'
"With this uniquely wise and funny book, Jim Hightower joins ranks with Molly Ivins and Michael Moore as one of our most sagacious and enjoyable social observers. Hightower's focus, though, is not on observing, but on activism. Not only does he show what's wrong, but he also shows how to fix it, offering specific solutions and calling for a new political movement of working families and the poor 'to take America back from the bankers and bosses, the big shots and bastards.' "
~~front & back covers
I wouldn't characterize this book as providing any startling new insights about the problems that a bound in our political & social systems today. It might have been a news flash in 1997 when this book was published, but today most American are aware of the growing gap between the 1% and the rest of the country, and the assault that's decimated & almost destroyed the middle class.
What was eye opening was his pulling the facade off Bill Clinton and shining a searchlight on his firm commitment to "the powerful and privileged" while giving lip service to his devotion to "the little people." It worked for him too -- I think most Americans believe (or at least did believe) that he was on the side of democracy; this book gives example after example after example of how he was not.
It was especially poignant to read this book during the Democratic primary race when Bernie Sanders ran against Hilary Clinton. Bernie is another champion of the people, and while he should have garnered the Democratic nomination (because he won more votes than Hilary did) it was obvious from the start that she was entrenched with "the powerful and privileged" and was going to be the nominee. And the revelations about the Clinton political history made its inevitability and macabreness all the more chilling.
It's my hope that more Americans will read more books of this nature, that dig out the background facts and history that the homogeneous news media doesn't cover, so that they can make more informed choices when they go to the polls and ote. Actually, I just wish more American would go to the polls and vote!
NB: this review was written shortly before the Democratic Nominating Convention in 2016 & therefore may appear dated or ridiculous if read after the Convention, or after the 2016 Presidential election.
NB: Yes, I have a political POV that's more Democratic than Republican, and I understand that I probably wouldn't have read this book if that wasn't the case. I also understand that if you, the reader, have a POV more Republican than Democratic, you will be annoyed or angered by both this book and this review. This review is just my contribution to the cause of both sides talking to each other and finding common ground before America collapses under the weight of oligarchy.
"No one in politics today can tell a story like Jim Hightower does, bringing home a hard-hitting message, yet keeping his audience doubled up with laughter. You may have heard one of his many speeches, frequently covered by C-SPAN, or you may have heard him weekdays on his nationally syndicated radio program, Hightower Radio: Live from the Chat & Chew. In the tradition of Mark Twain and Will Rogers, he skewers the powers-that-be in our country on behalf of what he calls the powers-that-ought-to-be -- America's workaday majority.
"Now he's concentrated his political outrage and irreverent humor in this important book. Hightower whacks the conventional wisdom right upside the head, daring to point out that not only is class war raging across America, but it's being waged by the powerful and privileged against the middle class. The 'ism' that we have to worry about is not socialism, he argues, but corporatism -- a rising phenomenon that he documents here in detail, naming names.
"This book is rich in personal anecdotes and well-researched facts, and it's sprinkled throughout with Hightower's tell-it-like-it-is characterizations of the high-and-mighty, such as:
"Newt Gingrich: 'The higher the monkey climbs the more you see of its ugly side.'
"Bill Clinton: 'A pusillanimous president,' 'a quisling in the class war," and 'an embarrassment to the party of Jefferson and Jackson, Roosevelt and Truman, JFK and LBJ.'
"Wall Street: 'Sure Wall Street is whizzing. It's whizzing on you and me.'
"Two Party System: Some say we need a third party. I say we need a second one,'
"With this uniquely wise and funny book, Jim Hightower joins ranks with Molly Ivins and Michael Moore as one of our most sagacious and enjoyable social observers. Hightower's focus, though, is not on observing, but on activism. Not only does he show what's wrong, but he also shows how to fix it, offering specific solutions and calling for a new political movement of working families and the poor 'to take America back from the bankers and bosses, the big shots and bastards.' "
~~front & back covers
I wouldn't characterize this book as providing any startling new insights about the problems that a bound in our political & social systems today. It might have been a news flash in 1997 when this book was published, but today most American are aware of the growing gap between the 1% and the rest of the country, and the assault that's decimated & almost destroyed the middle class.
What was eye opening was his pulling the facade off Bill Clinton and shining a searchlight on his firm commitment to "the powerful and privileged" while giving lip service to his devotion to "the little people." It worked for him too -- I think most Americans believe (or at least did believe) that he was on the side of democracy; this book gives example after example after example of how he was not.
It was especially poignant to read this book during the Democratic primary race when Bernie Sanders ran against Hilary Clinton. Bernie is another champion of the people, and while he should have garnered the Democratic nomination (because he won more votes than Hilary did) it was obvious from the start that she was entrenched with "the powerful and privileged" and was going to be the nominee. And the revelations about the Clinton political history made its inevitability and macabreness all the more chilling.
It's my hope that more Americans will read more books of this nature, that dig out the background facts and history that the homogeneous news media doesn't cover, so that they can make more informed choices when they go to the polls and ote. Actually, I just wish more American would go to the polls and vote!
NB: this review was written shortly before the Democratic Nominating Convention in 2016 & therefore may appear dated or ridiculous if read after the Convention, or after the 2016 Presidential election.
NB: Yes, I have a political POV that's more Democratic than Republican, and I understand that I probably wouldn't have read this book if that wasn't the case. I also understand that if you, the reader, have a POV more Republican than Democratic, you will be annoyed or angered by both this book and this review. This review is just my contribution to the cause of both sides talking to each other and finding common ground before America collapses under the weight of oligarchy.
December 30, 2010
Long before I really really got interested in politics, I dabbled a bit in everything. This book, for whatever reason, spoke to me on a significant level. I cannot figure out how I got my hands on it before college at this point, but I distinctly remember reading the whole thing one afternoon on a reread freshman year because a friend had it assigned to her for a class. But this book seemed absolutely revelatory to me – this guy’s talking straight! He knows his stuff! And it’s in a book, so I have to take it seriously!
Right.
I dunno. It might be due to my general allergicness to populism these days, or that I’ve grown up a bit, or maybe I’m ultimately stuck on Sowell’s The Vision of the Anointed to really truly appreciate it anymore, but this is a great example of my evolution, both as a reader and a thinker, in that I find this book ultimately trite and painful to read these days.
Right.
I dunno. It might be due to my general allergicness to populism these days, or that I’ve grown up a bit, or maybe I’m ultimately stuck on Sowell’s The Vision of the Anointed to really truly appreciate it anymore, but this is a great example of my evolution, both as a reader and a thinker, in that I find this book ultimately trite and painful to read these days.
May 24, 2007
Are you the type of person who avoids reading the newspaper? Does politics scare you too? Then check out this fabulous book by Jim Hightower! Learn what you really need to know (and avoid ever taking a polisci class) about politics, corporate badness, mad cow disease, organic food, and how breast cancer awareness month is actually a scam. This is a MUST READ for anyone who wants to know about what’s happening in this world. Hightower says it like it is and he is funny as hell too. Also, his chapters are short so you don’t have to read about one subject for too long. If you’re only going to read one book this summer make it this one. "I am an agitator, and an agitator is the center post in a washing machine that gets the dirt out."
--Jim Hightower
--Jim Hightower
June 18, 2011
A string of interesting factoids about small social issues (such as city abuse of parking meters as a revenue collection tool) interconnected by a generalized liberal screed that's presented in such a boring way that even activists should be hard pressed to find anything to like. The material is also horribly dated, talking mostly about how Bill Clinton isn't a real Democrat and blah blah blah, which after eight years of Bush is an argument I just have no patience for. Some of Hightower's later work is at least entertaining, but this one is just not worth the effort 15 years after the fact.
March 29, 2009
The author is a muckraker par excellence, and often as funny as he is outraged. He provides a combination of expose and stories of the impact on ordinary people of corruption and governmental indifference to the interests of constituents who don't happen to be big campaign contributors. Discouraging but necessary.
September 24, 2008
Wow! I read this book years ago and realize how Hightower introduced me to political writing with attitude. Very entertaining.
Also, I once met him and didn't recognize him because he wasn't wearing his hat. I found out after he left. Bummer....
Also, I once met him and didn't recognize him because he wasn't wearing his hat. I found out after he left. Bummer....
January 7, 2010
Jim Hightower hit the nail on the head with this one! Hightower suggests certain claims and accurately backs up each and every one of them. Wonderful read! I certainly recommend it to anyone, political buffs (like myself) or not!
December 7, 2012
Hightower is a very funny writer. He takes on political subjects in a down-to-earth way. While I may not have agreed with everything he argues, I admire his conviction, facts, research and the way he uses humor!
February 11, 2018
I had to keep checking the publication date - it's a little disheartening that not much has changed since this book was written.
One of my favorite parts was his idea that all politicians should be required to wear jackets with the names of their corporate sponsors.
One of my favorite parts was his idea that all politicians should be required to wear jackets with the names of their corporate sponsors.
October 1, 2008
You WILL want to be a vegetarian after reading this, at least for a few days if not forever. Smart and down-to-earth, if only politics were like this.
October 8, 2014
Jim Hightower is cool. He's an outspoken populist from Texas and writes in a fiery voice.
November 12, 2015
Brilliantly funny, a bit dated but essential for any policy and political buff.
December 26, 2016
Highly recommend this 10 year old book to anyone frustrated with the politics of today.
April 11, 2023
So, this was written in the Clinton era, so you'd think that politically it would be out of date, but no. Pretty much all the Senators mentioned are still there. But the income inequality, the mass political/corporate corruption, the en masse despoiling of the environment, it's all still going on, just even *more* nowadays.
So, this was a downer of a book, even with Hightower's breezy writing style and down home colloquialisms that made everything easier to swallow. We're doomed, aren't we?
So, this was a downer of a book, even with Hightower's breezy writing style and down home colloquialisms that made everything easier to swallow. We're doomed, aren't we?
January 25, 2008
I love Jim Hightower. He tells it like it is. Funny guy. Easy way to hear the disgusting truth.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews