What's So Great About America

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Summary: No-one has said it better!
Review: Mr. D'Souza has taken a subject rife with emotion and clearly, explicitly, and with occasional humor presented the truth for all to read and understand. He supports his statements with fact and footnotes, includes an extensive bibliography, and, in general, does a masterful job of presenting what every American...indeed, everyone who takes a stand for or against America...should read. This book should be a mandatory freshman-year text in every US college, if those colleges can find professors who have read it also. I have commended this book to my friends and family, and their families as well.

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Summary: What an immensly interesting failure!
Review: For those that believe, or want to believe, that America is the greatest country in the world, this book will amplify that belief. Those that believe that America is great at very little will find this book offensive.

I fall in the latter category. I believe that America, as founded, was a scary place for most non-whites or non-males. I believe that America as it is today can celebrate only one thing: citizens, residents and even "aliens" are allowed "freedom." The problem - well, one problem - is that D'Souza's "freedom" fails to distinguish between freedom TO and freedom FROM. Can there be such a thing as an "oppresive freedom system?" Every single thing D'Souza submits in this book screams out "YES!"

Here in the United States we have alot of freedom FROM. Freedom FROM spending more on education than we do on a defense that could not - and admittedly cannot - defend us against terrorism. Freedom FROM developing concomitantly the education system (which, combined with training and social services is at 1/8 the federal military budget each year) such that citizens might really know how to exercise their citizenship (The test: Tell me, or ask your children to tell you, who all your elected representatives are...). The only freedoms TO are, seemingly, the freedom to charge more than what an item is worth in order to capitalize on others, the freedom to consume those inflated items, and the freedom to see said items propagated through a media system built around doing just that. D'Souza celebrates this by submitting that life in America is life in end-state. Its D'Souza, Coors Light in one hand, ESPN Magazine in the other saying "Man, it don't GET any better than this." No? Then let's all end it right now buddy. We can't even get all our people fed or all the homeless off the street or medical care to all our citizens...other nations have done this, and that's the biggest failure of the D'Souza follower: they don't know about the world. They don't know, they don't want to know, and they are uniquely "American" in their pride of not knowing. Why understand anyone else when we're "Number 1?" D'Souza argument is circlar reasoning, non sequiteurs and post-hoc-ergo-propter-hocs all rolled into one big fat stupidity sandwhich. Other reviewers of this work make it clear that D'Souza strikes a "forget-the-past" chord of long-term guilt among whites generally and those who find their feet grounded in the Western tradition specifically by submitting that slavery and colonialism had several good points. With D'Souza's continuous trumpeting of past behavior in the beneficial light of "today," we become free FROM our actions, free FROM responsibility.

Looking to today and to the future, D'Souza reminds us of our freedom FROM leading the rest of the world in ways that maximize the potential of their best and brightest, in their cultural/social/economic traditions, WHERE THEY ARE, instead of continuously celebrating the emigration of people of quick mind (like people from the same immigartion experience as Dinesh, but certainly not Dinesh himself) away from that which they have been and will be. In the 21st Century why do Americans continue to celebrate the fact that people still want to come to America? It is this absolute failure to see America's possible larger role in the world that afflicts both Dinesh and those who leap without thinking to his side, mainly to simply stop feeling bad about their nation. Don't take a panacea; put down the remote, turn off Joe Millionaire or Robot Wars or the WWF, spend less time consuming and more time embracing fully the wholeness of your citizenship. Then again, that would be abdicating the few thing America IS great at today. D'Souza's work is a maze-like effort to justify himself and his cultural predilections. He could have made it easy on all of us by simply submitting "I like America cause, well, America likes me." In the final analysis, that's how simplistic this work is, and I rest replete in the knowledge that it will be sentenced, over the mid- and long-term, to the wonderful ignominy it deserves: INCREDIBLY failed rhetoric.

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Summary: What's So Great About This Book?
Review: Why do the Muslims hate us? Why do some Americans hate America? Did slavery benefit anyone in this country besides the slave traders and the plantation owners? Why didn't the framers outlaw slavery? Why do so many foreigners want to come to America? Why is America so rich and powerful? Should we pay reparations to black Americans for slavery? What led to the moral revolution of the 60s? Is America worth preserving? Ever wanted to know the answer to any or all of these provocative questions? Read this great book!

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Summary: And there's more ...
Review: This is interesting stuff - but it's only part of the story.

When you've read Dinesh's book be sure to get a copy of Eric Schlosser's "Fast Food Nation" and see what else American business is doing to make the world a better place.

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Summary: Why this is my favorite book....
Review: This book is one of my favorites and I sincerely believe that it should be mandatory reading in high school. The book is highly educational but more importantly it finally expresses a view that gets little attention these days. I think any reader will find D'Souza's views of America to be both fascinating and uplifting. His experience as an immigrant to this country combined with his thoughtful discussion of other cultures offers a rare glimpse into the way the rest of the world sees America.

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Summary: Poorly written rhetoric
Review: Being a conservative, I looked forward to reading this book; however, I found Mr. D'Souza's arguments to be immature and not well thought out. The world need less of the liberal-hating rhetoric Mr. D'Souza spews forth and more answers to fixing the real problems within our great country. To think that America is perfect, with no problems, is a dangerous attitude, and criticizing those problems is not un-American. The only way for America to remain great is to see those problems and fix them -- not blame them on liberals or conservative. After all, we are more than liberals or conservatives -- we are AMERICANS!

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Summary: Recommended for every american
Review: I am, like Mr. D'Souza, an immigrant who came to America when I was fifteen. I completely agree with all the points that the author makes, especially in the chapter entitled "Becoming American". The American Experience is intoxicating, exciting and in the end full of opportunity and freedom. Yet, people who live in the US don't realize how lucky they are. This should be required reading for anyone living in America or anyone who wants to live in America. America is by far an imperfect country, but we pursue perfection and reward competence. If you want to know the state of the world and America's role in it, but don't know where to start, pick up this book. It is clear, concise and to the point and is a useful gateway to greater things.

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Summary: Bill Maher has D'Souza's number--Coward
Review: From Salon.Com

SALON: You only made your comments [about the courage of the 9/11 hijackers] as a response to one of your guests, conservative author Dinesh D'Souza, who was the first to say that he disagreed with President Bush's assertion that the 9/11 hijackers were cowards, and went so far as to call them "warriors." Why do you think D'Souza escaped criticism?

MAHER: That is a question I have been asking. Because I like Dinesh but boy, he took a cab after that. I never heard from him. He never stuck his head up, and he'd been a guest on our show many times. Lots of people came to my defense -- people you never would have thought, like Rush Limbaugh. But Dinesh stayed way under the radar. He is not a warrior.

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Summary: the greatness of america
Review: The Greatness of America
In What's So Great About America, the best selling author Dinesh D'Souza argues many points from America's past and present but his biggest argument is the greatness of America it self. He states that anyone, from any country, can be whatever they want, raise their children how they please, marry whomever they wish, and, most importantly, live however they choose. America is the place to live your life to the fullest and in this book he brings about numerous examples, from his life and others, to prove it. Personally, I agree with D'Souza, partly because this is where I have lived all my life, but also since I have lived through some of it's greatnesses and learned about the rest. America has been compared to other countries countless times and, some how or another, it always comes out on top.
To prove America's greatness D'Souza brings about a lot of informative and important views. He uses his point of view, being born and raised in India, and the viewpoints of those such as Jesse Jackson and other famous speakers. He talks about America's enemies, slavery, colonialism, racism and further historical events that shaped the American civilization. In D'Souza's book, he uses each resource that is available from American history and they are used to convince anyone who reads his book that America is great. He believes that America's freedom is a "new way to be human" for all immigrants. Each immigrant that comes to America gets the chance to make all his or her dreams come true. In their homeland, wherever it may have been, they would not have gotten this wonderful opportunity. Dinesh D'Souza says that this is a good enough reason to see America's greatness but he realizes that only immigrants can see this and he wants natural born American's to realize it's greatnesses also.
In chapter one of his book D'Souza speaks of America and it's enemies and why they are enemies. It comes down to the fact that other countries are jealous of the freedom that American's have. Everyone is considered equal, the make their own life, and some countries see these attributes as moral sins. A number of countries believe that their way of life is the only correct one and that America should have to pay even more for their freedom and luxuries. They do not see how we can have all races, religions, and nationalities living in the same places without conflict and despair. Western civilization is spreading throughout the world even though many countries do not seek it; they like how things are ran their way. D'Souza claims that instead of seeking western civilization, some countries bring it to them without knowing it. They allow one law or tradition to change and they make themselves apart of western civilization without intentionally doing so.
D'Souza also declares in chapter three that the American idea is "unique." He points out that America made itself unique by mainly its freedoms but moreover for it's many success stories. Some successes were as complex as the abolishment of slavery and the civil right movement but others are as simple as marrying the person you love and becoming a successful businessman on Wall Street. America is unique because it allows anyone to come to America and "become American." In other countries, there is no such thing as becoming a national of that country; either you were born there and you are a national or you moved there and you are an immigrant. Immigrants come to America to live a better life and to let their children enjoy the pleasures of being a child in the United States. Immigrants and their families do not have these options in their native land so they come to America because of its distinctive satisfactions that they hear so much about through whatever means; may it be the television, the news, the internet, et cetera. It would not be foolish to say that America has become unique and desirable due to the fact that America created ways to show other countries how great the way of American life is.
Lastly, this book shows that America is so great and has become so dominant because it's people practically created the words "science" and "technology." Americans were drawn to the idea of success so once America was established, ideas for improvement came booming. We created democracy, capitalism, and western civilization. Our ideas have spread worldwide and no one can deny the fact that living in America adds value to everything. Deep down, other countries want to make their world as successful as ours but they don't know how to compete.
I think that Dinesh D'Souza sums it up for all the people that have come to realize that they cannot compete with America while staying in their homeland by saying, "I know that my daughter will have a better life if I stay [in America]. I don't mean just that she will be better off; I mean that her life is likely to have greater depth, meaning and fulfillment in the United States than it would in any other country. I have come to appreciate that there is something great and noble about America...." All of the greatnesses that D'Souza spoke of is reflected in his daily life and mine. If you read this book, you would come to realize that America is greater than what you hold to be true.

Rating:
Summary: Unique Point of View
Review: The writer has such a unique point of view that is just not seen in the mass media or any text books I've read from high school to college. A fantastic book from a great mind and thinker. I look forward to his other books.