Excuse Me, Professor

There’s little truly “progressive” about progressivism. True progress happens when people are free, yet the progressive agenda substantially diminishes freedom while promising the unachievable. Excuse Me, Professor provides a handy reference for anyone actively engaged in advancing liberty, with essential essays debunking more than 50 progressive clichés.

Does the free market truly ignore the poor? Are humans really destroying the Earth? Is the government truly the first best source to relieve distress?

Compiled and edited by Lawrence W. Reed in collaboration with the Foundation for Economic Education and Young America's Foundation, this anthology is an indispensable addition to every freedom lover's collection.

Visit FEE.org/cliches to see the full list of essays as they appeared here at FEE.org.

From the editor:

Students in colleges and universities across the country are bombarded daily with bias in the classroom from “progressive” professors. One of the most important things we can do is to equip them to fight back!

In one easy-to-read volume, this new book from the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) and Young America’s Foundation (YAF) is an arsenal brimming with intellectual ammunition.

What’s the proper, most insightful way to view the world—through a collectivist lens as blurry as Mr. Magoo’s, or with 20/20 vision that recognizes individuals as the unique and precious, decision-making entities that they are, endowed with rights to life, liberty and property? Excuse Me, Professor answers that question definitively.

Did capitalism cause the Great Depression? Did it force children into the coal mines for the first time in history? Does it foster inequality that requires redistribution as a remedy? No, no and no! This book says why.

Did Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle prove the need for regulation? Do free markets exploit people and destroy the environment? Does the minimum wage improve the lot of the poor? Is profit a blight on the economy? Does competition hurt consumers? No, no, no and no again! This book says why.

Each of the 52 chapters of Excuse Me, Professor is a stand-alone rebuttal to a myth that “progressives” promote, as well as its many associated slogans and false premises. Imagine thousands of students emboldened by the information in this book, raising their hands in class to declare, “Excuse me, professor, but what you’ve just offered as fact would seem to be completely false in light of what I’ve just learned in this book.”

True, many “progressive” professors are incorrigible. They may dismiss what the student says and even intimidate the class into silence. But just one student, well-armed with powerful arguments, can make a big difference with the other students.

This is how we win the future for liberty. We don’t sit around and bemoan the one-sided progressive bias that goes on in the classroom. We reach right into those classrooms, around the professors, and give ammo to those thoughtful young people who are looking for the right answers.

If you want to help, buy this book! Buy it for yourself and buy another copy to give to a student. The battle for liberty and free markets is now underway in America’s classrooms. Don’t be a bystander. Join the fray, and pass the ammunition! ~ Lawrence W. Reed

Praise for Excuse Me, Professor

“In an era of economic stagnation for the vast majority of Americans, and at a time when opportunities for upward social mobility are disappearing, careful, critical thinking about economic reality and economic policy are indispensable. It is long past time to dismiss the cliches and restore economic literacy. That is why I welcome this collection of essays.”
   - Robert P. George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence, Department of Politics, Princeton University

“An indispensable guide to confronting the socialists among us who disguise themselves as ‘liberals’ and ‘progressives.’”
   - David Horowitz, President, David Horowitz Freedom Center

“This is just the book today’s college students need to understand the world in which they live and will, soon enough, lead. I encourage every parent, grandparent, and concerned citizen who cares deeply about America’s future to give copies to all of the young people they know. It may be the only time these students ever learn the truth about the way the world works.”
   - Christopher Long, President, Intercollegiate Studies Institute

“Larry Reed is one of the sharpest thinkers and clearest communicators in the free-market movement. His well-organized book refutes the widespread collectivist mythology that chomps away daily at America’s liberty and prosperity. Reed and his co-authors lead us through the socialists’ rubble and then chart a common-sense path to good times. I learned plenty from this book, and so will you.”
   - Deroy Murdock, Fox News Contributor, Senior Fellow, Atlas Network