The Opposition…

A Fighting Chance

Elizabeth Warren

Discussion: 2014-Apr-May-Jun

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2014-Apr-May-Jun

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* June 2014
By Tiffany , WristStrong · 1 post · 26 views

last updated Jul 01, 2014 01:25AM

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By Tiffany , WristStrong · 1 post · 28 views

last updated May 27, 2014 05:54PM

What Members Thought

Oct 24, 2014 Nicholas rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2015-history-theme-awesome-women

If I could have dinner with just one famous person or historical figure, I'd choose Elizabeth Warren without a moment's hesitation.

Listened to the Audiobook version, narrated by Senator Warren herself and it was so much more powerful.

This book gave me a wild mix of emotions. It's depressing; it's uplifting. It's rage-inducing; it's sentimental. It's all of these things in the best possible way. I have to admit though, that through most of the narrative, my teeth felt clenched tight enough to sha If I could have dinner with just one famous person or historical figure, I'd choose Elizabeth Warren without a moment's hesitation.

Listened to the Audiobook version, narrated by Senator Warren herself and it was so much more powerful.

This book gave me a wild mix of emotions. It's depressing; it's uplifting. It's rage-inducing; it's sentimental. It's all of these things in the best possible way. I have to admit though, that through most of the narrative, my teeth felt clenched tight enough to shatter. The absolutely brazen behavior of this nation's financial institutions and the cozy relationship they have with politicians - to the extent that they operate in the open and don't even bother hiding their behavior (AND STILL GET AWAY WITH IT) is absolutely infuriating and makes me want to go live on an island somewhere far away from people. What kept drawing me back in was Warren's own story. By her own account, it's the story of an ordinary, plain American—nothing remarkable or special—inexorably drawn into the highest rungs of power in the American political system. It's an impossible tale. It's one that shouldn't be true, like a ridiculously fantastic Horatio Alger rags to riches story whose objective is to keep Americans placated that the American dream is alive and well when it isn't. I'm incredibly torn. Years of teaching AP Government and digesting political news as well as academic studies of our political system (like this one) make me incredibly cynical about the power and potency of the ordinary citizen in our democratic citizen. And yet here is Elizabeth Warren, in blatant defiance of everything that my intuition and the facts tell me should be true. Here is a woman who defied Goliath on multiple occasions and became increasingly more powerful and influential with each encounter, win or lose. Here's a woman who has been in the closed off citadel of Washington D.C. surrounded by armies of lobbyists for almost three full years and who has remained true to the principles she campaigned for. It's enough to make you want to weep with relief.

A Fighting Chance is a humble autobiography recounting in particular Warren's interactions with our political system as an academic, as a representative of the interests of middle class families, as an agent of the executive and de facto head of a government agency, and as a Congresswoman. She shares details of her life along the way, highlighting her ordinariness and the degree to which her story is characteristic of the American experience as a whole and with so much to talk about keeps a book that's part biography and part policy remarkably organized and readable. She does so by sticking to her theme of fighting for what's right. Whether in the context of her responsibilities to her family, her students, to her community or to whole classes of people.

It's incredibly difficult not to like (love) Elizabeth Warren. She has a genuine quality about her in both speech and print that abounds with honesty and integrity. You just get a gut feeling that she's the real deal, that she cares, that she's human, and that she's just like you. She's a patient teacher and guide through the labyrinthine world of financial (de)regulation and her enthusiasm for her work is absolutely infectious the way your favorite and greatest teachers are. You may not go in caring about financial regulation and bankruptcy law, but when you leave, you absolutely will. She's also a fantastic storyteller. She had my eyes completely watered over when she talked about losing her dogs and smiling nearly ear-to-ear when she excitedly recounted her own election victory, the successful creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Board, or the memorable times she spent with her grandchildren.

As an opponent of the financial sector, Warren has gained a falsely earned reputation among those on the right as being a socialist (the famous catcall for anyone who believes government has an obligation to establish rules and make sure everyone plays fairly). She clarifies her position in her book quite succinctly. She believes in capitalism. She believes in celebrating, rather than punishing success. The vast, vast majority of Democrats in general do. But capitalism and the free market don't work properly when people cheat. We don't have a capitalist system in America. We have crony capitalism. Businesses that make money bending rules and the ears of powerful people in the government while the ordinary small business owner or small corporation is forced to pay the taxes laid out in our tax code without the help of loopholes or subsidies. EVERYONE should be outraged at the way this works and support Warren because we don't have honest competition. The government shields certain industries and certain companies selectively and allows them to get away with things other companies and ordinary people could never dream to get away with. When she spoke to small business owners in Massachusetts to gain their vote, she lays it out. "You're afraid I'm going to raise your taxes. Because that's what "Democrats" do. Do you have a bank account in the Cayman islands? Do you have a lobbyist in Washington to get you subsidies at the expense of your competition? No? Then I'm not your enemy." And most Democrats aren't. They want small business owners to succeed (and succeed without limit) so long as people recognize how being part of a community contributes to all of our success and that they play by the same rules the rest of us play by. There's a false dichotomy in American politics, an oversimplified narrative that says Republicans are good for business and Democrats are bad for business. Republicans don't like the workers and Democrats do. It's not that simple at all and there's plenty of evidence to the contrary on both sides in both statements.

At the end of it all, I don't know how to feel. I'm still incredibly pessimistic about the structure of our political system...perhaps I've been burned too many times in my youth falling for the promises of reform and change from charismatic politicians. Warren is a personal hero of mine. And if she tells me that we can win the fight to end the influence of fat cats and make a system that is genuinely fair for all, I still find that I'm inclined to believe her.

Thank you for being real and being you. ...more

10 likes · Like · see review

Mar 21, 2014 Linda rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: audio, ohio-e-book-project

Elizabeth Warren is singing my song, so of course I loved this book. From the moment I first saw her (I think on a Dr. Phil program) I've loved her feisty spirit and attempts to make comprehensible parts of life in the U.S. such as mortgages and loans. If we could get more like her in the Senate, perhaps there would be equity and compassion for the average person just trying to pay the bills and put a little aside. After all, it is the government of the people and by the people, not over the peo ...more

4 likes · Like · see review