Bullies: How the Left's Culture of Fear and Intimidation Silences Americans

I do not like bullies. Neither does Ben Shapiro and neither did his mentor Andrew Breitbart, which is probably why Breitbart devoted his like to exposing the biggest bullies of all the contemporary Left, and why Shapiro continued his work by writing Bullies: How the Left's Culture of Intimidation and Fear Silences Americans. In Bullies, Ben Shapiro describes in exacting detail how the Left uses bullying tactics to shout down and silence all who oppose them. He tells how Leftist bullies in government, in the media, on the university campus, and elsewhere use their position and power to force their viewpoints on people. He writes how liberal bullies in politics use the nastiest and slimiest personal attacks against conservatives to get their way, and then blame the conservatives for the incivility in politics. Green bullies want you to be poor to save the Earth. Secular bullies want to forbid you from praying in a public space. Race and class bullies want to pit Americans against each other. Anti-patriotic bullies want you to be ashamed of your own country. The entire Left is composed of bullies who want to tell you what to do. If you don't like it, than sit down and shut up. Luckily, Ben Shapiro is able to relate these stories of the power hungry, bullying Left with a sense of humor. Otherwise, this book might be painful to read. As it is, he writes with just the right, slightly mocking touch that makes his book actually fun to read. Like all bullies, the Left does not like to be laughed at and maybe more books that are humorous will help to put them in their place. Ben Shapiro concludes Bullies with a rousing appeal to his readers to pick up Andrew Beitbart's mantle and continue the fight against the thugs and bullies of the Left. Bullies who are unchallenged only get worse so if we want our descendants to live in a free country, we have no choice but to fight them. By the way, if there is any doubt that Leftists are nothing but bullies, check out the one-starred reviews of this and other conservative books. There seems to be a clique of people who have nothing better to do, they probably collect unemployment, but to publish nasty reviews of books they have not read. Typical.

You may love Ben Shapiro or hate him, but there are few who present a better argument for the conservative and libertarian cause than he does. In this book, written pre-Trump, Shapiro points out the tactics used by the left to intimidate, silence and "bully" their opposition. Well footnoted and easy to read, the book presents cogent arguments and examples to support Shapiro's claims, as well as enough perspective to make even a neutral reader think about the veracity of both his claims and the arguments of those he opposes. Unlike a typical screed piece, Shapiro's almost academic approach to pointing out the issues with the left's tactics should sit well with those looking for facts that don't care about your feelings. A good read.

I purchased this book after following Ben Shapiro on Twitter for a while. As a life long democrat and mostly liberal until about 4 years ago, I have felt isolated and alone in my quest to understand why identity politics and theories that support them crush all other free though. I found it extremely disheartening to the point of being anxious and depressed. Why are these people that I have kumbaya's with forever going off the deep end and willing to group think me into silence for really simple deviations and questions. It is a serious societal concern that I believe is on the verge of "cannibalizing itself" as many predict. But in the mean time I am learning to speak my truth. I believe in people as individuals. And come from a place of true love for humanity and practicality. I will no longer be silenced. I haven't called myself a conservative yet, but I consider rational conservative to be kinfolk. And even the irrational ones are generally cool to debate without accusing you of being cruel and racist. Then there is the teensy alt-right who get all the courage, it is a testemant to the left that they want to pin the disgraceful actions and words of a few on all conservatives. Thanks Ben and other rational conservatives! You have really given me hope!

There are already nearly 500 Amazon reviews of this book as of the posting of my review (and I’ve read a lot of them), so I’ll try to add something new to the mix. But first, a paragraph of background, just to set the stage. Ben Shapiro’s thesis in this book is that the left bullies the American public into silence so that there will be nil opposition to the leftist agenda – and indeed, bullies the public into tacit support of the leftist agenda. (E.g., “If you don’t vote for Obama, you’re a racist.”) In support of his thesis Shapiro cites many examples and case histories. Now, there won’t be many on the left who read this book and have an “ah ha!” epiphany that their leaders are bullies, and a “by golly, we just won’t accept this kind of behavior” response. And certainly the bullies won’t change their behavior even if they read this book – after all, they are bullies. So the only persons who can benefit by reading this book are the bullied – thus, this book is directed primarily to the bullied (and how they can respond to being bullied). This book is generally well written, well researched (over 500 citations to sources in the “Notes”), and adds just the right amount of cynical levity to keep the reader from becoming despondent. Where Shapiro’s intellect truly shines is in Ch. 7 (“Secular Bullies”), and esp. at pgs. 224-229, wherein he argues that faith-based beliefs are just as valid as secular beliefs when it comes to politics. Shapiro might have done well to expound more on this philosophic bent, as it is at the core of the issue – that is, the liberal assumption is that their points of view are superior to any other points of view, and thus the other points of view lack any justification for being presented, and therefore must be suppressed, by whatever means - including bullying. Unfortunately, Ch. 7 is also where Shapiro loses credibility – and in fact becomes the bully (thus warranting my 4-star review, vs. a 5-star review). At pgs. 244-253 Shapiro rants against “Anti-Semitic Bullies” – which basically means anyone who has the audacity to criticize Israel. Shapiro denigrates any Jew who dares to criticize Israeli policies as a “self-hating Jew” (pgs. 250-251). (Talk about bullying!) The issue here isn’t about Israel, but rather why Shapiro decided to put a section in his book about the alleged bullying of Israel, when the book is supposed to be about the bullying of Americans! If you want to read about Zionist bullying of Americans, see “Against Our Better Judgment” (Alison Weir). In any event, Shapiro does a service by shining a light on leftist bullying, so that hopefully the bullied will now realize when they are being bullied, stand up, and refuse to be bullied.

I know Ben Shapiro's work from reading his columns along with an earlier work (Porn Nation) that I thought was weak. This book is totally different, however. Bullies is written with Shapiro's usual style of sneering at the left without the total emphasis on social conservatism. Personally, I believe Ben's attitude towards the opposition is meritorious. He treats the left with the type of disrespect they absolutely deserve. His theme is that when an enemy is completely dishonorable--as the political left is--we debilitate our own cause by acting like conservative gentlemen. The author is 100 percent correct in his assumptions. Chivalry towards thieves is the policy of losers. The left fights us to the death, and when we respond by pretending they argue in good faith we destroy our own side. The left is fundamentally dishonest and deceptive. Shapiro illustrates this truth within these pages. When it comes to sex, environmentalism, race etc., their dishonesty never stops. Just last month we heard, over and over again, that the rich just need "to pay a little more." Now they do. Yet the left continues to clamor for more stealing from the productive members of society. I wish that all of us on the right took Ben's message seriously and fought the left with the same zeal with which they fight us. Additionally, I appreciated Bullies for its link to Breitbart whom most of us greatly miss. I did not know that Shapiro was one of Andrew's right hand men, but obviously his spirit has rubbed off favorably on this young author. Ben's really improved.

I read a lot of books that come from the Conservative side of the Press but this book went way over the top in terms of perceptivity and knowledge. I can see why Andrew Breitbart knew he had found a real jewel when he discovered Ben Shapiro. That same clear thinking and perception really came to light when he tied half of his brain behind his back and showed up on Piers Morgan show on CNN to talk about Gun control. Poor Piers did not even stand a chance against this superior intellect. Ben takes on the Lame Stream Media, Hollywood, Gay rights, Washington and makes it very clear what is going on with the blatant and epedemic of Progressive sickness that is confronting us at all levels. One of the things I loved was his "Zingers" that catch you off guard but leave you laughing like his comment on LGBT political correctness and he states something like you best remember that for "your hairgrowing under the armpit lesbian cousin". Of course, anybody who leans to the right will find this book informative, amusing, insightful, and educational, but I suspect that anybody who comes from the left will have to take a second look on what they "think they thought". Run, don't walk and get a copy of this book but be careful because you will find it hard to sit it down for even a minute until you finish it and it will certainly leave you hungry for more.

Shapiro goes into great detail to expose the lies and misinformation that is being perpetrated by the American left. The beginning of the book helps to outline the history of this behavior with examples, and in what areas of American society this toxic behavior is manifesting. Shapiro does a great job outlining what is happening and how to stop it: speak up and don't remain silent in the face of the left's intimidation tactics(punch back). I didn't like that the book appears to be very much in the moment. It examines past history of the left's behavior, but doesn't account for the possibility of major conservative victories or fighting back that happened after the fact(ex. Trump). The book is a great (recent)history lesson about the left and how their fear tactics grip different areas of American culture. With great examples and well-placed points exposing the left's idiocy, the only real downsides of the novel fail to account for are giving numerous examples of how the average American can 'punch back', which I think would have really made the book even that much better.

Just recently graduated from a private university. It's a well known college. I took leadership of a multicultural organization which was sponsored and part of the multicultural affairs. Everyone involved are very passionate and pushes the idea of equality/diversity. Of course, I was one of them but I was very open minded. I did not really care much about current politics or policies. But being in a leadership role placed me in the midst of all that. That being said, I attended conferences/meetings w/ other multicultural leaders, professors, and advisers. Man these meetings got me asking so many questions. Complaints about how there are not enough diversity in campus leadership or jobs, comments of other races that MAY seem racist but is not intended, racial-stereotype costumes for Halloween, etc... It's ridiculous. I had a couple of instances where I received toxic response after disagreeing with their idea/argument. Like seriously? You can't hire someone based on their skin color. Only by their qualifications and character. Many moments like these, I just can't comprehend and find it all self conflicting. Everything became crystal clear when I started watching Ben youtube. Stumbled upon his videos by accident while searching for educational sexuality videos for my human sexuality class. Youtube algorithm can be odd sometimes. So this was the start of walking away from leftist ideas and towards the truth. Bought this book for a more defined message. And it explains the actions of college campuses and how it's impacting our liberty. I really don't think college students should be able to vote. Unlike many generations before, majority of college students today lacks important values and experience. Better for them to vote after experiencing the real world. By that I mean getting a job, filing your own taxes, dealing w/ insurance.

Ben Shapiro at the time of the book's release was the editor-at-large of the Conservative website Breitbart.com, and now editor at Daily Wire, rips to pieces the Left's domination of western culture in this well researched book. For too long now, Conservatives have neglected to challenge the complete liberal bias in media, politics, and in general, western culture. Primarily because Liberals use smearing and bullying tactics against anyone who dares disagree with anything they believe in by using strong, negative labels such as racists, sexist, etc that naturally have bad connotations and can potentially destroy reputations, justifiably and unjustifiably. Now the labels mentioned above are totally meaningless thanks to the brain dead liberals because it turns out, not everyone who disagree with you is racist or sexist. Ben Shapiro sets out to demonstrate different kinds of Liberal bullying in each chapter and discusses real life events coordinating with said topics. In total, there are seven chapters; 1. Institutional Bullies, 2. Anti-Patriotic Bullies, 3. Race Bullies, 4. Class Bullies, 5. Sex Bullies, 6. Green Bullies, and 7. Secular Bullies. Every institution you examine in America, and even Britain, institutions seem to hold Liberal values and principles with very little or none disagreement between them when it’s come to creating, suggesting and implementing political policies. Unfortunately, this bears bad news for Conservatives who share different values and principles. According to an article by The Daily Signal [...], in the academia world, Liberal professors outnumber Conservatives professors 5 to 1. No wonder, when students complete their degrees, they get triggered every time someone has a different opinion from them. Liberals are spoon-feeding their agendas completely unchallenged which has led to the snowflake generation, who are intolerant to differing opinions. Here is an extract from the first paragraph on Chapter One which brilliantly sums up the points being made: For decades, the biggest problems for conservatives – and the biggest advantage for liberals – has been the fact that conservatives think individually, while liberals think institutionally. Think about politics in terms of religious outreach. Conservatives are like Jehovah’s Witnesses, going door to door, trying to convince people of the truth of their teachings. Liberals are like radical Muslims, toppling governments and installing shairah law, then forcibly converting enormous masses of the population. Liberals hate Western patriotism, pure and simple. Before I forget to mention, Ben Shapiro pretty much attacks the current president, Barrack Obama in every chapter, and for good reason, he practically epitomises the stupidity of Liberalism. Shapiro, justifiably points towards globalists and globalism as to as why, Liberals despise patriots but he suggests there are another factors. I think personally, and obviously, it might have to do with guilt. Let’s face it – Great Britain’s and the United States of America’s respective histories haven’t been entire clean or happy. For example, the slave trade and imperialism. So for leftists, they think by committing to irrational and unreasonable things such as repatriation to African-Americans for slavery, they can feel good about themselves for doing a good deed. (I think repatriation is only good when you are giving it back to the victims themselves, not to their future or past relations). As a British person, I can say America has been a force for good in the world for developing countries to bring legitimate democracy, wealth and prosperity, but it has done some terrible things such as the unnecessary Iraqi War with the help of British forces. Like any countries, civilians should feel proud of their countries, but Liberals are undermining this in the US by supporting extreme religious countries such as Saudi Arabia, and hideous organisations such as Hezbollah. Race-relations are at the lowest point since the Los Angeles riots in 1992. Despite Obama’s speech for election in 2008 when he said, “to continue the long march of those who came before us, a march for a more just, more equal, more free, more caring and more prosperous America”. Obama’s noble cause to unite races in America to create a less divide country is something everyone wants. However, 8 years later, Obama has completely failed to unite the races. Even to the point in some college campuses, segregation of race is currently being suggested. How did America get to this point? The left are race-baiters, intending to create a toxic environment where African-Americans are portrayed as victims every time some police-officer shoots an African-American before even the whole story gets out. Consequently, riots are sadly a common sight, costing local communities their livelihoods. While the mainstream media make money from covering the topic, and the Government can justify their existence, and perhaps suggest an expansion to “prevent” another similar situation from occurring. Conservatives, on the other hand, suggest more appropriately that we should reduce the roles governments are responsible for, and instead, put the responsibilities on the individuals to create a better life for themselves. Ben Shaprio provides an excellent example in his book on page 84, where the mainstream media deliberately lied to viewers to fuel their distorted agenda. His name? Trayvon Martin. His killer? George Zimmerman. Shaprio wrote this: The Associated Press wrote a nationally syndicated story highlighting specific facts that made the killing seem racial in nature. Trayvon’s family’s attorneys, the AP reported, “said they believed Trayvon Martin was being profiled at time of the encounter because he was a young black man. The neighbourhood watch leader is white. The attorneys also questioned why a neighbourhood watch leader would carry a gun. ‘He was stereotyped for some reason’, attorney Ben Crump said of the victim. ‘Why was Trayvon suspicious? There are hundreds of children in that community.’” It was an entirely one-sided hit piece on Zimmerman – and the fact that it labelled Zimmerman “white” sparked a firestorm. Now the story wasn’t a Hispanic man killing a young black man who was ramming his skull against the sidewalk. It was a white guy straight from Birth of a Nation stalking a young black man and murdering him in cold blood. This is simply stone cold. The mainstream media outlets are manipulating the news to favour their own political biases to portray the world as they viewed it, and not the world based in reality. The fact that Zimmerman was Hispanic, but the media pretended he was white just shows how far, the media are willing to provoke an angry response from the African-American community is scary. The media want you to think the whole police force is racist, when in reality, a small and minority faction of the police force is prejudiced against ethnic minorities. And guess what? They get dealt with accordingly. The 2007/2008 financial crash has caused tremendous tension between the rich and the poor. Shapiro, again, correctly points out why such a thing happened: In 2008, the America economy essentially melted down. Thanks to decades of government interventionism in the free market, the American financial system hit a crisis point. Socialists, or more accurately, Marxists, having been waiting patiently for a day, where Capitalism is considered a failure. So they suggest the alternative is Karl Marx’s system, practically handing out free money to the poor by heavily taxing the rich. Whilst enlarging governmental responsibilities to unprecedented proportions, controlling everyday activities that individuals and organisations are more capable at, and dealing with it, in a more efficient way than governments could ever dream of. Of course, being a book about liberal bullies, the chapter is about class bullies. One brilliant example that epitomises the bullying in a vivid and more specific way, is the Occupy Wall Street movement. Which was orchestrated and organised by Obama’s lefty allies. I’ll let Ben Shapiro explain in better, clearer detail: Since his inauguration, the threat of the pitchforks has never been too far way. From the Occupy Wall Street movement, co-ordinated and organized with the help of Obama’s allies and with Obama’s explicit approval, to the union movement, which pours hundreds of millions of dollars into Obama’s campaign machine, President Obama has never – not for a single moment – let up on his class bullying. When he says that he wants people to pay their “fair share”, he never means that he wants all Americans to pay a fair share. He just means that those who earns should continue to pay for those who don’t. And if you disagree, he’ll target you. Personally. This is one reason why I am a conservative. Obama’s campaign is the antithesis to capitalism. You get a job, save it up towards something like an investment, and earn money off that as well as your job. The welfare state punishes the people who are working to earn a living by taxing, and then provides welfare benefits to the people who couldn’t be bothered getting a job. I intentionally and deliberately missed the people who are unemployed but are still looking for a job, and people who have disabilities that prevent them from working. The Democrats in the United States, and Labour in the United Kingdom, primarily implement these types of policies that make everyone miserable and creates very little wealth. And actually leads to the rich getting poorer, and the poorer getting poorer. I must make a disclosure before proceeding to write about the next chapter; I despise Feminism. The fifth chapter, Sex Bullies, takes a look at Liberals bullying on the basis of gender. Again, Ben Shapiro makes a brilliant argument, but I am not going to write it here. Instead, I will describe what he wrote. Shapiro talks Sarah Palin, a US Republican, who is across the Liberal spectrum widely hated upon. Feminism being a liberal position, you’d think Liberals respect Sarah Palin for being a strong woman despite her politics. Wrong. Liberals absolutely hate her, and probably more now, when she endorsed the current Republican Presidential Nominee, Donald. J Trump. I thought Feminism was about “empowering” women and creating “equality” between the sexes. The first wave of Feminism was necessary given Women weren’t allowed to vote. But now, third-wave Feminism is a Women’s supremacy group that only admits Liberals, not Conservatives. This is why I despise Feminism. The bullying tactics used against Sarah Palin are horrendous, and extremely unpleasant: The first sign that the left couldn’t stand Sarah Palin came when she presented her son Trig to the world. Trig was born with Down syndrome, and yet Palin had the gall not to abort him. If she’d been a leftist, this would have been seen as an act of supreme self-sacrifice; because Palin didn’t abort Trig out of pro-life principles, however, the left decided that she was villain. And so they targeted her. The so-called “tolerant” Left are actually the bullies. Not saying every Liberal is a bully nor is every Conservative is an angel, but when you hear things such as this, it makes you question the Leftist’s behaviour. For anyone interested, I suggest watching a video on YouTube called Ben Shapiro Destroys The Abortion Argument on The Daily Wire channel to get Shapiro’s perspective on Abortion which he also discusses in the very same chapter: [...] The sixth chapter is on Green Bullies. As you probably noticed if you keep up with current affairs, Environmentalism and climate change is becoming more discussed with commentators and politicians on the mainstream media outlets. This, of course, is a Liberal position to take. No doubt, humans must observe the environment and take action when needed to sustain human activity. However, Liberals are overcooking and over-stating the problem, causing a harmful effect on the American economy and American Industry. Ben Shapiro responds to the liberals with a brilliant rebuttal: Americans like balance. We’re conservationists. Teddy Roosevelt recognized the balance we wanted to establish between economic growth and a pristine natural environment. He especially advocated carving out particular areas in which natural beauty would be left to its own devices. But he wasn’t for cutting off American industry. The short paragraph hits the perfect note. Yes, we must take action and prevent environmental sweet spots from being severely damaged by industrial activities, but at the same time, you can’t prevent industrial activities altogether because thousands upon thousands of unreplaceable jobs would be lost, and the American economy would suffer substantially. If you don’t subscribe to the Liberal cult of environment in its whole form, be prepared. Because Liberal bullies will collaborative together to melt you down, until you have no reputation left to recover. The last chapter, for me, is a difficult topic for me to discuss because my position is different to Shapiro’s, but I agree with him mostly. I don’t believe in any particular religion, so I have always aptly labelled myself an atheist. However, I always notice within religious debates, a superiority complex exists that atheist tend to exhibit quite frequently with a detect hint of arrogance. Liberals think their position on the likes of abortion is the only answer, and if you disagree, well again be prepared. Under the appropriate subtitle “Obama’s War on Religion”, Ben Shaprio writes about the war on religion from the Democratic Party side under Barrack Obama’s eight years in the White House: President Obama’s secular bullying serves a dual purpose for him. First, it provides him the personal satisfaction of supplanting God with himself. Second, it gives him a convenient enemy to target in order to garner the female vote. See, President Obama knows that women have never had it better in this country. And he knows that Republicans are not only fine with women working, they’re making a heavy play for women by running charismatic female politicians like Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, Kristi Noem, and dozens more. As it turns out, married women are especially apt to vote Republican, since the Republican Party is heavy on traditional family values. And even among women, sentiment surrounding abortion is incredibly mixed – and thanks to Roe v. Wade, the abortion issue is off the table for the most part anyway. Traditional family values have pretty been eroded as the West has become more Liberal. Depending on your politics, this is either good or bad. On the abortion argument, it is hard to decide a side to fight for. Both sides have valid points and valid criticisms of the other side. As long as Third-wave Feminists continue to create havoc, the abortion debate will always be on the table for the foreseeable future that increasingly continues to divide people into two categories; modernism or traditionalism. I chose traditionalism. Overall, the book excels the Conservative arguments that Liberals are the true bullies, not the other way around. Ben Shapiro writes passionately, using cohesive arguments backed up by influential and trusted research to create this much valued book for Conservatives, while Liberals should perhaps hide because their arguments are getting absolutely destroyed.

This is a must read for all libertarians, conservatives and Objectivists. Many people have stood by and let the bullies (all stripes of the left) have their way. The leftist bullies been waging a focused battle while the rest of us have looked on. Ben eloquently and forcefully presents the facts; this book provides the proof that should wake us up and get us involved before it is too late. His book is a call to action!

Ben Shapiro is so interesting and you can learn a lot from reading this book

Facts don't care about your feelings

Ben Shapiro is to me a really inspired conservative writer in about 75% of what he says, and educative too; The other 25% to me is about his (local) dogmatic idea of God (Orthodox Jew) and his chronic bias about laws and formalism "always" over human emotions (When 50% of laws and formalisms themselves come from human emotions). In any case, I pay that 25% to have the other 75% of Shapiro, I've no doubt about that; As he uses to say: "Well, this (US) is a free country and as far as I'm for its laws, I have the right to think what I believe I must think"... and yes... He's right saying this.