Good book, especially the third section.

The first two sections of the book is a call to arms for ordinary people to get involved with politics and matters of business. Her case is that true democratic societies require it's citizens to make political decisions and call the shots. This is also Chomsky's claim.

The alternative claim is that society is too dumb or non-specialized to handle important matters and needs the governance of an elite crowd. It would be interesting to hear the case from this opinion with adequate backup.

But, the book doesn't look at both arguments. There are no counter-arguments to the opposite opinion. It is only an argument for transparent and completely accessible government (or, radical democracy, as I would call it).

But this is all just a plea for perspective, and for most of us, much of it is just preaching to the choir.

The best part, by far, is the third section. This is a how-to guide for citizens on changing government. I'm glad that someone finally has put together a good manual of how to get this kind of stuff done. It talks about the strategies used, what to look for, and how to keep from being ignored.

The book was written with a handbook perspective, which matters a lot. You can actually use the information in it. Many books talk about injustice, but they leave you with a feeling that you can't do anything about it. So, kudos to Naomi for digging up all the logistics and insights on govt lobbying and handing them over to the public.

The only disclaimer I would give about this book is that it assumes that:
a) Our founding fathers always know what's best, and
b) Public access is always a good thing

Many times in the book, I found myself thinking: "If the founding fathers told you to jump of a cliff, would you do it?"

I also would like to hear the case for public access of government not being a good thing. I don't want to just ignore any counter arguments and would like to see where the lines need to be drawn.