Top critical review
1.0 out of 5 starsKantian noumenalism veiled as moral truth
Reviewed in the United States on December 30, 2018
Philosophy must always be critiqued. It is a necessary part of the process of determining the ethics of chosen a work. Do not fool yourselves, A is for activist is a work of philosophy, albeit, a sophomoric build on a Hegelian epistemology. For this reason, it should not be considered a work for children, unless the writer intended to propagate Kant’s corruption of noumena, by disguising reality and introducing phenomena as a priori. The work fails, even under Kant’s requirements of reason to make a valuable determination of the nature of humanism. This review cannot assume the reason for this, because it is not possible to fully understand the writer’s epistemology and thus the review has no tool by which to measure how the conflicts and confused notions can co-exist amongst its pages.
The book's layout is an attempt to present a method of learning the alphabet for whom we must assume to be children. Each page is dedicated to a single letter such as “A is for…” as the title implies and goes all the way to the letter “Z”. By the letter “B” the book is already advocating the destruction of other people’s property, by suggesting an ‘activist’ (defined on the letter “A” page) when disagreeing with someone’s private practices is entitled to stop their business and force them to listen. The picture depicts a banner hung from what looks to be a crane. It is highly doubtful that the so-called activist will purchase (or rent) an expensive piece of building equipment just to hang a homemade banner from. Yet, to show the absence of a logical reason based epistemology, the letter “C” indicates it means to cooperate. Within three pages of this so-called educational book, it has already proved it is not based on a metaphysics of reality, but dances inside Kant’s phenomenal world, where only emotions are moral truth. Only Kant and through Hegel, are emotions a measure of reality. No metaphysics worth its salt would leave reality out of the equation with trying to determine what is real.
The book is rife with anti-human ideals; such as political dominance by a perceived idea of majority (D is for) even when no such majority actually exists; notion of equal rights (E is for) except when someone else’s idea of rights is opposite to your own (B is for, M is for, N is for, O is for, P is for, and Z is for).
What is missing from the book? F is for Freedom, an axiomatic notion: the a priori value of self and the right to own all of your own ideas: even those opposed by others. H is for Humanism, the love of humanity even when it is different from your own. L is for Liberty, the authority over your ideas, even if they fall outside the perception of a thing calling itself a majority.
And most of all it is missing:
A is for anarchy: which is from the greek, composed of two words: “an” meaning without and “arkhos” meaning ruler; no rulers only the self. A book about activism is no book at all unless it stems from the center of the soul of the writer. Real activism comes from their own atmosphere and loves others regardless of their views. Activism is humanism, not the advocation of theft, violence, and destruction of other people’s liberty.
This book is not a children’s book, it is propaganda with a tone of force on others. As is clear with the tone, voice, and words for the letter O that suggests when others impose systems that you disagree with that it is okay to agitate and organize. There is nothing individual or in the nature of being human in that statement. The title should have been "A is for absolutism, it is our way or else"
To close, A is for activist is a philosophical work in the vain of Saul Alinsky and all anti-natural, anti-humanist communists. This book should be added to your library to help teach your children. It can be used to show them how propaganda is not education, it is not critical thinking and it is not, most importantly, about self-responsibility and the natural rights of men.
