Authors: Jared Rosen and David Rippe

ISBN: 1-57174-474-6

The following review was contributed by: Sue Vogan: To read more of Sue's reviews Click Here

“The Flip“ is about changing your life, crossing the bridge and about being the best you can be -- after we make sense of it all. It's all about flipping.

The upside-down world versus the right-side up world, which world do you live in and how will you know? What if you want to cross the bridge from one world to the other in order to change your life? Is it simple and painless? How do we make sense of it all? "The Flip" is just the book for you if you want a life with less stress, more beauty, and better relationships -- with everything from people to the universe.

The upside-down world is where "more money is spent on war than on all social-service programs - for children, the elderly, education, the homeless, the hungry, the disabled - combined." It's also where "people say they value children, yet parking lot attendants make more money than child-care workers and sports figures make more in one season than educators do over an entire career." This upside-down teaches children computer literacy but not emotional literacy -- giving "them drugs rather than honestly dealing with their issues." "People kill each other to control limited underground resources - oil, ore, minerals, water, and precious metals - while they ignore unlimited resources such as the sun and wind that can be harnessed for an endless supply of energy." "Trust is a rare commodity in the upside-down world, and intentional deception is commonplace. Our institutions - government, religion, media, education - claim to provide comfort and aid to society while in fact serving their own interests."

Across the bridge, the right-side up world, people rejoice "in the spirit within everyone and everything - they have evolved beyond their fascination with darkness and evil." The authors claim "the Right-Side Uppers adhere to a Second Bill of Rights that gives all people: The right to a useful job that pays a living wage for adequate food, clothing, and recreation; the right for every businessperson, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition; the right to a decent home; the right to medical care and the ability to achieve good health; the right to a good education; (and) the right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment." These same Right-Side Uppers "learn that it is safe to speak their truths, and trust is a natural outcome of their relationships."

It all sounds like paradise -- and far-fetched. But the authors point out "The Second Bill of Rights was proposed by Franklin Delano Roosevelt in his State of the Union speech on January 11, 1944."

At some point in time, I suppose we all stand on the bridge. Rosen and Rippe suggest, "the flip is happening in nearly every facet of our global society" and "the choice is yours."

First, the authors help us to find out which side of the bridge we are living by assessing what is most important to us, how we spend our time, and what we think about most. They include interviews with other Right-Side Uppers and "Flip Tips" to assist the reader with their decision to be a Right-Side Upper.

This is an eye-opening book for those that are tired of the way things are -- in their own lives. "It is not a matter of tearing down the system, or trashing that which you wish to change. The challenge is to change ourselves individually and live in integrity, being a good person as best you can."