Local author offers insight to right-wing politics
Thursday, February 17, 2011
By Andrew Waguespack
Kingwood-area engineer, political blogger and author, Egberto Willies, knows that most of his neighbors are conservative. But that did not stop him from writing a book that, he says, needed to be written.
“Most people are good people but they pretty much make up their minds about a lot of the things that they hear on TV,” said Willies. “The media has a tendency to create a narrative, and this is usually driven by interest groups.”
According to Willies, “As I See It: Class Warfare: The Only Resort To Right Wing Doom” was inspired by his realization that trusted media outlets were purposely misinforming the American people due to corporate interests.
“It’s amazing that when you watch TV stations that should be reputable; the amount of bad information that comes out of these stations is just astounding when information is right here for anyone to get,” said Willies.
Willies’ book gives the synopsis of American politics from the election of Reagan to today, including what he says is the decline of the middle class.
“I think America is the greatest country on the planet. But I think what we have been doing over the last 30 years is everything the Roman Empire did to collapse,” said Willies. “Everything that they did to collapse is what we’re doing now.”
According to Willies, the book tries to convey that people as a whole are good and that people are responsible for themselves.
“Don’t allow other corporations to make up your mind. You have to do this on your own; you have to do your own research,” said Willies.
From the outsourcing of jobs and resources, to the lowered education standards in America, Willies says that his book can help get America back on track.
“My selling point to a lot of people is always if you believe that you want to have job, if you believe that your kid needs to have a job, if you believe that you want your kid to prosper in the future, then you have to look out for the country today. And this book can give you a hand in that as well,” said Willies.
Originally from Panama, Willies has been living in America since 1979, upon receiving a music scholarship to Blinn College in Brenham.
Expecting sky scrapers when he arrived in Brenham, Willies laughed, “I got there, and that wasn’t the America we saw on TV.”
According to Willies, he worked three jobs during the summer so that he could transfer to the University of Texas, where he received his degree in engineering.
“It was just amazing coming here for the very first time,” said Willies. “I loved it. I’m still here, right?”
“As I See It: Class Warfare: The Only Resort to Right Wing Doom” is available at Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com, and other online stores. For more information about the book, visit http://books.egbertowillies.com. Willies’ blog can be found at egbertowillies.com.
Photo:
Local author Egberto Willies’ new book, “As I See It: Class Warfare: The Only Resort to Right Wing Doom," explores corporate influences in today’s media and politics. "Unlike many books, this book says: these are the things that are wrong and this is why they are wrong. But you know what? There is a solution. And guess who has the solution. All of us do if we just open our eyes," says Willies.
