Aftershock: Protect Yourself and Profit In The Next Global Financial Meltdown, Second Edition

It’s Not a Crazy Book

Crazy books are just cheerleading books in disguise. They propose crazy economic or financial theories that aren’t real. Some of these books are far more critical and radical, and more “doom and gloom” than we are. They might say much more critical things about our country. They might be far more critical of individuals such as Alan Greenspan or the Wall Street Titans. But, they are so silly that they aren’t very threatening. Hence, by being so implausible, they are effectively cheerleading for the status quo. Many crazy books, therefore, become quite popular forms of entertainment.

By contrast, there have been some important examples of books that were not crazy and took on important issues, such as Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Silent Spring. Both of these books were well written and were very honest about the issues they took on. They weren’t crazy, but in being very realistic they were also very upsetting and many people didn’t like them at all. Fortunately, many other people did like them even if they were highly critical of the status quo, as they were the right books at the right time for a nation that was already beginning to change its attitudes in the direction the books were advocating.

Timing is everything. Unless the time is right for a critical mass of society to begin to accept the new ideas in a basically accurate book, it will be rejected. Instead, many people will prefer a crazy book because it is far less threatening. Our book is not a crazy book ...