Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

In short summary, this book is basically propaganda and should be renamed "All rich people must die." But let me get into the details. This book actually starts off really great! Zinn starts out warning the reader he will not be taking a neutral stance and says he will view history only from the oppressed. He then starts off doing just that, watching the invasion of the Americas from the point of view of the natives, the revolution from the poor, slavery from those enslaved, etc etc etc. All good stuff, and I really enjoyed these parts. It was a great look into all the atrocities that have been dealt in the name of civilization, and a fresh remainder of the human cost to get us where we are today. It was also a solid reminder that just because something is law, or generally accepted, doesn't mean it is right, and we need to constantly challenge our perspectives. But then, something really sinister happened. Zinn slowly but surely slid this book from a history of the oppressed to outright propaganda against anyone rich and anything capitalist. It starts slowly, around the point where the poor felt taken advantage of by the rich as America was being colonized. My BS meter started ringing as I noted how Zinn would change how he described the poor and the rich. The poor were always broken down into individuals, with history and struggles aplenty, and there transgressions against each other deflected to others. Meanwhile, the rich and powerful were always described in blocks, as one mass thinking-breathing unit that plotted and schemed to keep the poor down. Let me provide some examples of both. Apparently, according to Zinn, poor whites only discriminated against blacks because the rich told them to. Apparently, according to Zinn, poor whites invading Indian land was only due to rich people forcing them to. Apparently, according to Zinn, non-land owning whites were only given the right to vote so the rich could keep exploiting them. Apparently, according to Zinn, all the reforms passed to give workers the right to vote around the 1900 mark was only down so to stop the poor from rioting so the rich could continue exploiting everyone. Apparently, according to Zinn, everything any rich or powerful person ever did in their life was done as a concentrated act of evil to hurt those without money. It's insane the mental hoops this guy jumps through to make good acts, like giving workers rights and people the vote, seem like nothing but a evil tool used by the wicked rich to hurt people! I mean, come on! The level of bias grows and grows as the book goes on, until about 50% I just hit the end of my tolerance. At this point, all the fighting the workers have been doing for rights and respect in the workplace is starting to bear fruit, and Zinn calls every win an evil deed JUST because it keeps the "capitalist system" propped up. I mean, I know that sounds like a dumb thing to say, but he really does this. A rising middle class? A buffer for the rich to keep the poor down! The right to vote? A tool to make the poor complacent! Racism? Engineered by the rich to keep the poor divided! Are you poor and did something bad? Guess who Zinn feels is really to blame . . . So I'm just done. Call me a wicked capitalist, but I just can't see how touching money suddenly sucks out all your humanity and hooks you into the rich-and-powerful hive mind, deserving of death. And I certainly don't want to waste my time reading a book by a guy who's trying to force that viewpoint on me, under the guise of a "history" book.