The End of America details the ten steps a country takes when it slides toward fascism. It’s not a “lefty”tot tome, rather a historical look at trends in once-functioning democracies from modern history that are being repeated in our country today. It gives any reader (or viewer of the lecture) a much-needed history lesson and constitutional refresher. Most importantly, it puts the recent gradual loss of civil liberties in the U.S. in a historical context. The average American might not be alarmed at AT&T selling our private information to the Bush administration, but when this action is seen as part of a larger series of erosions and events, a pattern emerges with unfortunate consequences that become disturbingly clear.

Naomi Wolf: [Ten key steps to close down an open society: a dictator's blueprint]
1. Invoke an internal and external threat
2. Secret prisons where torture takes place
3. Develop a paramilitary force
4. Surveil ordinary citizens
5. Infiltrate citizens’ groups
6. Detain and release ordinary citizens
7. Target key individuals
8. Restrict the press
9. Recast criticism as espionage and dissent as treason
10. Subvert the rule of law