Plus get our latest book recommendations, author news, and competitions right to your inbox.
Underdogma
How America's Enemies Use Our Love for the Underdog to Trash American Power
Published by BenBella Books
Distributed by Simon & Schuster
Table of Contents
About The Book
“Analyzing and refuting the common assumptions of anti-Americanism is a critical contribution to the global political debate. Thank goodness for this effort."
—UN Ambassador John Bolton, author of Surrender is Not an Option
David versus Goliath, the American Revolutionaries, "The Little Engine That Could," Team USA's "Miracle on Ice," the Star Wars Rebel Alliance, Rocky Balboa, the Jamaican bobsled team and the meek inheriting the Earth.
Everyone, it seems, loves an underdog. Why is that?
We begin life tiny and helpless, at the mercy of those who are bigger and more powerful than us: parents and guardians who tell us what to eat, what to wear, how to behave (even when to sleep and wake up). From childhood into adulthood, we're told what to do by those who wield more power—our parents, teachers, bosses government. So naturally, we have a predisposition to resent the overdogs and root for the little guy.
But this tendency, which international political consultant and human rights activist Michael Prell calls “underdogma," can be very dangerous – both to America and to the world at large.
In Underdogma, Prell, who has worked world leaders including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Australian and Canadian prime ministers and the Dalai Lama, explores our love/hate relationship with power within our culture and our politics. Underdogma explains seeming mysteries such as why:
Almost half of Americans blamed President Bush for the attacks of 9/11, even while the American media described the architect of these attacks as “thoughtful about his cause and craft" and “folksy."
Gays and lesbians protest those who protect gay rights (America, Israel), while championing those who outlaw and execute homosexuals (Palestine).
Environmentalists focus their rage on America, even though China is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases.
The United Nations elevates countries such as Sudan to full membership on the UN's Commission on Human Rights, even as the ethnic cleansing of Darfur proceeds.
Tracing the evolution of this belief system through human history—ancient Greece to Marxism to the dawn of political correctness—Prell shows what continuing with this collective mindset means for our future. While America and its president increasingly exalt the meek and apologize for their power, America's competitors and enemies are moving in a different direction. China is projected to overtake the U.S. economically by 2027 and is ready to move into the position of hegemon, and radical Islamists are looking to extend their global territory, taking any sign of weakness as a chance to attack.
America must return to its founding spirit, and underdogma must stop now—our nation depends on it.
—UN Ambassador John Bolton, author of Surrender is Not an Option
David versus Goliath, the American Revolutionaries, "The Little Engine That Could," Team USA's "Miracle on Ice," the Star Wars Rebel Alliance, Rocky Balboa, the Jamaican bobsled team and the meek inheriting the Earth.
Everyone, it seems, loves an underdog. Why is that?
We begin life tiny and helpless, at the mercy of those who are bigger and more powerful than us: parents and guardians who tell us what to eat, what to wear, how to behave (even when to sleep and wake up). From childhood into adulthood, we're told what to do by those who wield more power—our parents, teachers, bosses government. So naturally, we have a predisposition to resent the overdogs and root for the little guy.
But this tendency, which international political consultant and human rights activist Michael Prell calls “underdogma," can be very dangerous – both to America and to the world at large.
In Underdogma, Prell, who has worked world leaders including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Australian and Canadian prime ministers and the Dalai Lama, explores our love/hate relationship with power within our culture and our politics. Underdogma explains seeming mysteries such as why:
Tracing the evolution of this belief system through human history—ancient Greece to Marxism to the dawn of political correctness—Prell shows what continuing with this collective mindset means for our future. While America and its president increasingly exalt the meek and apologize for their power, America's competitors and enemies are moving in a different direction. China is projected to overtake the U.S. economically by 2027 and is ready to move into the position of hegemon, and radical Islamists are looking to extend their global territory, taking any sign of weakness as a chance to attack.
America must return to its founding spirit, and underdogma must stop now—our nation depends on it.
Product Details
- Publisher: BenBella Books (February 1, 2011)
- Length: 280 pages
- ISBN13: 9781935618652
Browse Related Books
Raves and Reviews
"
""Michael Prell's book, Underdogma, explains in detail how the Left masks anti-Americanism and anti-Western sentiment behind the American tradition of rooting for the underdog and how we can fight back against their rhetoric by reviving the American spirit of our founding fathers that transformed us from the ‘underdog' to the greatest country on earth.""
—former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich
""Michael Prell skillfully exposes how our misplaced emphasis to cheer on the underdogs, especially in the international community, will erode America's status not only as a superpower, but also as the greatest nation in the world. A must-read for anyone who believes in maintaining America's presence as a global leader.""
—Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, (R, MN-6), leader of the Tea Party Caucus
""Underdogma is the first great Tea Party book""
—Tea Party Patriots co-founder and national coordinator Jenny Beth Martin,
one of TIME Magazine's 100 most influential people in the world, 2010
""Underdogma is the Rosetta Stone for our time's most portentous puzzle: Why do so many in this country—including some in leadership positions—abhor our national greatness and seek to diminish it at every turn? Michael Prell has ‘broken the code,' and in so doing made an invaluable contribution to preserving and strengthening American exceptionalism.""
—Frank Gaffney, Founder and President of the Center for Security Policy, Ronald Reagan's Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy
""Americans have sympathy for the underdog. But that sympathy, Michael Prell argues, can be used by America's enemies to undermine faith in our culture and our country. In Underdogma, Prell shows how that works—and what we can do to combat it.""
—Michael Barone, FOX News contributor, Resident Fellow, American Enterprise Institute, Senior Political Analyst, The Washington Examiner, Co-Author, The Almanac of American Politics
""Thank goodness for this effort.""
—UN Ambassador John Bolton, author of Surrender is not an Option
""Underdogma is the Liberty and Tyranny of 2011""
—Ezra Levant, author of Shakedown
""Clever, accurate, droll and timely: The meek shall inherit contrariness.""
—Nationally syndicated radio host John Batchelor
""I love, love love it. The title is fantastic.""
—Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, bestselling author, television and radio host
""Compelling; well done.""
—Daniel Pipes, author, founder of the Middle East Forum
"
Resources and Downloads
High Resolution Images
- Book Cover Image (jpg): Underdogma eBook 9781935618652
