What's So Great about America by Dinesh D'Souza
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Book Reviews of What's So Great about America
Book Review: AMERICA FROM AN IMMIGRANTS POINT OF VIEW
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a smooth, easy and short read. D'souza ideas have a nice and consistant flow to them that makes this a pleasure to read with out making this a war-n-peace dissertation on some of the cultural warfare present in our day.
D'Souza's main thesis is to acknolwedge the debauchery caused by the unbridled use of freedom in our society from what he calls the ethic of authenticity. Also by acknowleding this he also points out where the Islamists and multi-culturalsts do not. This is the most important aspect of his book, where by that same freedom when engaged in virtues such as altruism have a greater meaning in the greater context of the culture and in the world.
He talks about several key cultural issues in America and portrays them in an unapolgetic prose that acknowledges the short comings of America while also expressing them as great strengths. For instance, racism in America. We were the country that led the charge to abolish it. It took the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans in battle to do it as well and our Republis survived. This is not to America's discredit becuase it has flaws but to its credit that it is unique in the sense that it overcame those flaws. Mr. D'Souza is quick to point out that the West has been responsbile for great progress in the world and that even in the tyranny of colonialism, his native India benefitted from the imposition of the British where they outlawed the practice of killing female infants, child marriage, and more.
I found this book amazingly refreshing and I would assume that most multiculturalists, who continue to blame America first for all the woe's of the world will probably find it troubling. Mr. D'souza, I enjoyed reading every single page. As an American, a service-member in the military, a father, and husband in a two-parent home... I'm am convinced that some ways are better to live. This is not to the discredit of those who are chosing a different path but American altruism and invention are at the heart of almost everything that defines my life and for that I am unapologetic and greatful. For that I've seen first hand how the rest of the world revels in that same special 'stuff' that is unique to America. Thanks for articulating this as you have. It's refreshing to not have to trudge through some angry American historian who's ashamed to be an American. My hat is off to you sir!
Book Review: The West vs. the rest
Summary: 5 Stars
What a surprise. From the title and cover art I was expecting a 4th of July - My country `tis of thee - stand at attention and salute book full of patriotic drivel. But this is a very substantial and thoughtful study of America's institutions and its critics. And the author has a gift for straightforward, easy to understand exposition.
Dinesh D'Souza came to the U.S. as an exchange student from Bombay, India in 1978. He has had an illustrious career in this, his adoptive country. He's been active in politics as a Presidential advisor and in other capacities, but is mainly a scholar and writer. He spent ten years with the American Enterprise Institution and at the time of writing this book was a Fellow at the Hoover Institution.
The first chapter tackles all the standard criticisms of America which eminate from the Left, Europe and Islam. In a style that characterizes the entire book, D'Souza presents the arguments and/or complaints against America, its actions, culture, or whatever. He then replies with a calm, logical, polite but emphatic refutation. As well as being informative, this book is a lesson in the proper way to conduct a debate.
Not all the complaints against America are refutable. America is not perfect and D'Souza is the first to admit it. He never engages in casuistry but admits the faults, past and present, with candor. In a Chapter titled "Two Cheers for Colonialism" he describes the wrongs of Western Colonialism, but also argues convincingly that by and large the benefits for those Colonized have outweighed the wrongs.
He avers that the reason the West became the dominant civilization in the modern era is because it invented three institutions: science, democracy and capitalism. The freedom in the West derives from this combination and allows the human being to become a different sort of person than those still living in traditional societies.
As D'Souza concludes: "America is a new kind of society that produces a new kind of human being. That human being - confidant, self-reliant, tolerant, generous, future oriented - is a vast improvement over the wretched, servile, fatalistic, and intolerant human being that traditional societies have always produced, and that Islamic societies produce now."
Book Review: "Last best hope for the world"
Summary: 5 Stars
D'Souza is a former White House domestic policy analyst. He first came here as an exchange student from India. We gain a unique prospective of America viewed through the eyes of a former East Indian. Excellent observations are made, such as the comparisons to ancient Athens. There are notes with extensive references.
So how did the West become so great?: through science, capitalism, democracy, and Judeo/Christian we Americans, and the media's idea of who the terrorist are, is not exactly accurate (as in the motives behind 9/11). D'Souza believes our media, our schools, and the left, are feeding the hatred and emboldening the enemy; there is a progressive attack from the "intellectuals"; what is driving our enemy is mis-leading. In a way Muslims are right about our morality, in what they believe; Islam is strong in its faith, we are weak in ours. This may be our demise if we don't recognize what is happening; we need a renewal--to show them we are strong in our faith. Remember, there are times when the enemy of our enemy is our friend.
The cultures of the world are being shaped by the west. But through multiculturalism, students get a false picture of the world: the West is the blame for the ills of the middle East (lack of prosperity), but remember, the East has been around much longer than we have. Also, because we hold on to the guilt of being racist, we end up strangling "minorities" and risk our safety with protectionism. No, the "new morality" of Rousseau has not died, he is alive and well in America. We are under a different set of standards because of our moral superiority; the U.S. is the "last best hope for the world".
We may look at English colonialism and Americas African descendants of slavery as a blessing in disguise; are these cultures not better off?
I will leave you with this thought by the author: "the only time the Islamic world makes the news is when they killed somebody, when is the last time we heard of an Islamic discovery or invention?".
Wish you well
Scott
Book Review: Fantastic! (a history teacher's review)
Summary: 5 Stars
D'Souza starts "What's So Great About America" with a thorough indictment of America. In a 30 page chapter entitled "Why They Hate Us" he honestly and thoroughly lays out all of the arguments about why America is reviled by so many. By the end of the chapter the reader begins to wonder if there really is anything so great about America.
The balance of the book is spent answering every charge levelled in the first chapter. I have rarely read a book on contemporary politics in which I agree so thoroughly with his analyses. I may be just a high school history teacher but I do a lot of thinking about history and a lot of reading. The big ideas such as those of Locke, Rousseau and Jefferson fascinate me and I like to think about what their philosophies mean for us if implemented in the real world.
D'Souza's comments on the West being an inheritance from both Athens and Jerusalem (pp. 60-61) closely mirror a conclusion I came to myself one day when discussing Ancient Greece with a class. I guess that makes the Book of Acts the actual document that founds the West...hmmm.
I loved this quote from a friend of D'Souza that wanted to immigrate to the United States from India very badly: "I really want to live in a country where the poor people are fat." (p. 77)
D'Souza's analysis of Lincoln, slavery and the rigamarole that he went through to finally get rid of it is so brilliant that I will refer to it next time I teach it in history class. (pp. 116-8)
At no point does D'Souza deny that America needs improvement. He does not claim it is a finished product. But, he does assert that for all of its warts and imperfections it is, as Lincoln put it, "the last, best hope of Man on Earth."
The book is a bit dated, even though it is only 7 years old. The War in Iraq, the election of Barak Obama and other events came to mind as I read the book. I hope that D'Souza offers a revision with additional commentary. Perhaps discussion pages at the end, too? It comes to mind because my edition is from Penguin Books and they do that with many books.
Book Review: Why Muslim's Hate Us
Summary: 5 Stars
In this book "What's So Great About America", by Dinesh D'Souza, Dinesh explains in many ways how the rest of the world is being Westernized. The rest of the world has many characteristics that they once did not have. For example, "People go to work in Western suits and ties, even though this attire seems utterly unsuited to India's hot climate" (37). He explains that the Muslim religion views Americans as the Anti-Christ, based on how America is influencing all of its bad habits in other countries. So in the Muslims eyes, we are spreading evil all over the world.I believe everyone should read this book that has any opinion on how the Muslim people think our society is so evil. I truly am grateful that I had the chance to read this book because I had a very one-sided view on this subject due to my older brother fighting in the terrorist war. I think the one good thing about this book is, it explains to you in detail on how Muslims mind frame's work. Without reading this book I had no idea why Muslims considered the USA as the Anti-Christ. It has expanded my knowledge and the reason why they hate us makes a lot of since. That also doesn't mean I agree with them on killing off Americans.
One thing I disliked about this book was in Chapter five when Dinesh starts to talk about how the Muslims view the sexual domain we as Americans have. It gives a detail of one case that a Muslims newspaper writer wrote in their paper to mock us. A Frenchman comes home and finds an American in bed with the Frenchman's wife. Well, Dinesh and the Muslims have a bad view on the sexual domain the Americans have. They should not take into account just the bad apple of the bunch but a whole in society, just like we cannot judge every Muslim by a few Muslim extremists actions.