So my goal for the Goodreads Reading Challenge was 40 books this year. For the longest time it looked like I would come nowhere near that total but a good October and November has brought me within 4 of that total. Now the trick will be to get 4 more books reads before the end of the year. December is always a challenging reading month, with so much to do getting ready of Christmas and then I usually am working more at Target, etc, so it will be tough but maybe doable!!
A good aspect of this year’s reading is that a third of the books that I’ve read (12/36) have been non-fiction. Certainly more than in previous years! Book 36 for the year is one of those non-fiction books State of Confusion:Political Manipulation and the Assault on the American Mind by Dr. Bryant Welch. Welch makes the case that many Americans have been manipulated by the Right with actions that are akin to “gaslighting” From Wikipedia:
Gaslighting is a form of psychological abuse in which false information is presented with the intent of making a victim doubt his or her own memory, perception and sanity. It may range simply from the denial by an abuser that previous abusive incidents ever occurred, up to the staging of bizarre events by the abuser with the intention of disorienting the victim.
The term “gaslighting” comes from the play Gas Light and its film adaptations, in which a husband secretly dims the gas lights in the house and, when his wife remarks on it, he claims that she is mistaken. This is done to convince the woman that she cannot trust her own judgment, and so will not be believed if she tries to report other strange things that are genuinely occurring, which the husband wishes to keep secret. The term is now also used in clinical and research literature.[1][2]
Bryant makes a valid case that, that is just what the Right does and the three prime States of Confusion are Paranoia, Sexual Perplexity, and Envy. All states that the Right uses to divide and confuse the nation! Chapter 6 is titled “Gaslighters: Architects of False Realities” sounds like the bubble world that many of the right live in- doesn’t it!! The Gaslighters include Fox News, and The Religious Right! The last chapters deal with the assault on Professionalism, Policy Implications and The Politics of Reality!
I thought that the book was well written and highly informative about what has gone on in America particularly over the last decade! Here’s what Robert Shrum says about the book:
“Bryant Welch makes a fascinating and compelling case that right-wing politics has subverted our democracy by infecting us with a form of political neurosis. This book unmasks the politics of fear-the deeper chords touched by campaigns to the dark side”
It’s a short book that took me way to long to read, but it is really worth reading!
