Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I bought this book after a friend who is a voracious reader mentioned it was what she was currently reading and seeing the many five star reviews. I had reasonable expectations despite the fact I am leery of any conversation that frames itself using the word "War". Unfortunately for me this book did not live up to its five star rating or my expectations. The "Coming Jobs War" essentially is a plan to avert societal collapse. While I agree with many of the prescriptions that Jim Clifton brings forth throughout the book, the book is just that- prescriptive in both tone and content. The book is written in the style of a bad self-help book or perhaps like the legion of "how to win in business" type books. As in such books "The Coming Jobs War" makes a sweeping generalization which is then supported by vague statements using pseudo-scientific mumbo-jumbo. While elements of the plan to avert societal collapse make sense, and many I agree with, they are presented in a linear, deterministic manner which completely miss the complex, systemic approaches that will be needed to address the issues the book seeks to contribute its voice to solving. Even worse, this book fails to provide much data to back up its claims or meaningfully acknowledge other thinkers and theories that supportable or refute the claims being made. While there is an extensive list of references at the end, they exist independent of the rest of the book (at least in the Kindle edition I read). "The Coming Jobs War" suffers in other ways that alienated me as a reader from the important (and likely valid) points raised: - Entrepreneurs are given mythic, superhero status. The impact, societal benefit, or long term sustainability of the entrepreneur's idea is irrelevant. Rather entrepreneurs earn their superhero status by their willingness to persist and business acumen. This is disingenuous at best, and seemed even more egregious since I'd just finished "Redirect: The Surprising New Science of Psychological Change" which has lots of case studies of the harm persistent, good intentioned, and passionate individuals can cause. - The various chapters of the book are rife with inconsistencies and contradictions. Depending on where you are in the book either creation of good jobs, security, or whatever topic the current chapter covers are the number one priority to be addressed. - The book at times seems a marketing screed for Gallup; the reader gets the impression all good policy ideas originated with Gallup. - It is not clear what audience this book was written for. If I had to guess it would be a marketing executive's caricature of a business leader or policy maker, but certainly not a scientist of any stripe or others familiar with policy issues. However, given the number of five star ratings it must resonate with many readers. In summary, if you like books with simple direct messages, don't care about the provenance of ideas as much as the ideas themselves, and want simple answers to complex problems you will likely enjoy this book. On the other hand those who take a more complex and nuanced view of society might want to check out the book from the local library, cull the key ideas from the last summary chapter, and save time, money, and a painful read. Honestly, it really worth one star, but I give it a second since some of the ideas can stimulate much needed dialog.