Book Review: Sandy Hook by Elizabeth Williamson

Sandy HookSandy Hook by Elizabeth Williamson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was impressed with this book, but I can’t say I enjoyed reading it. It was heartbreaking at some points; depressing at others.

It is bizarre to me that people could believe the Sandy Hook murders were faked. But there are other bizarre beliefs out there: Pizzagate, the Big Lie – that Trump actually won the 2020 election due to massive fraud, that the Democrats are Satanic pedophiles, that 9/11 was an inside government job, and just recently: that JFK Jr. will come back to life in Dallas and declare Trump president. People showed up to witness this!

There should be a special place in hell for people who create and spread these lies for profit. Other people get involved to be part of something, and others are just crazy. But, it seems to me to be an indictment of our educational system. How can so many people be this gullible? What happened to common sense? I hear teachers talk about teaching “critical thinking,” but maybe that’s a stretch – maybe teaching something more basic like common sense might be a better choice.

Lastly, it show how much worse our lives have become since the rise of social media. There are benefits, but it is apparent to me that the problems it creates outweigh the benefits. There are other ways to stay in touch with the people that matter – besides, are most of those Facebook “friends” really friends?

The book is worth reading because this is a big problem and we can expect more and more of it in the future.


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