Rating: 
Summary: Rugged individualism, not religion, is the key issue.
Review: This is the the only book of Star Parker's I've read, and it will be the last. Notice that I've given the book 4 stars because it makes a lot of great points, and I firmly agree that the welfare state is a dismal failure. It should be obvious to anyone that if you want more of something you make it free or easy to get. If you want less of something you make it more costly. Star Parker is good at showcasing how the government welfare system has nearly eliminated the "school of hard knocks." Removing the costly consequences of people's actions is the root reason why welfare never works.However ... the suggestion that people should rely on religion and faith rather that the government is disappointing -- how does shifting a person's dependence from government to religion help ? It isn't necessary, and it isn't desirable. Why not keep the discussion objective ? Is family important in turning children into responsible adults ? You bet. Does it logically follow that religion is the necessary ingredient that makes a family stay together ? Not at all. Not unless you have an agenda like Star Parker. People are not the intellectual cripples that Star seems to think. Not everyone needs to be shamed into doing what is right, or needs the framework of religion to hang their personal philosophy on. How difficult is it give your fellow man the same respect you would want for yourself ? How difficult is it to understand that every dollar you get without working for it came from somebody else who did have to work for it ? None of that requires religion. So blaming a lack of religion, atheism, or secular humanism for people's bad personal choices is a shallow argument at best.
Rating: 
Summary: Star is brilliant!!
Review: This lady is bold and very aware of what is going on in America, especially in the black community. She is saying what everyone's thinking but afraid to say it. I admire her for rising out of "slavery" and reaching out to those who are still lost. She challenges the false security many of us tend to have, believing the government is going to save us.
Rating: 
Summary: She can't be serious
Review: When I read the synopsis of this book I thought that it would discuss this book from an entirely different point of view, but it didn't. I'm not a Republican or a Democrat, but Ms. Parker seems to have a very biased Conservative/ Republican view point on almost every subject. The true title of this book should be How the Whole World's problems can be solved by God and no government.
She constantly blames the lack of Christianity in schools as the root of every social evil. Ms. Parker never talks about the negative aspects of a public school system that preaches religion. She never talks about the reason this country was founded was because our founding fathers left a country that prosecuted people who didn't believe in a religion taught in schools. She never discusses the fact that people in Saudi Arabia, Iran and other countries that use religion to create societies ripe for intolerance and recruitment by radical terrorist groups. She consistently uses single incidents to denounce a practice. For instance, she cites one Muslim soldier's treason as an example of why multi-culturalism is wrong.
I also am appalled by her viewpoint that most people on welfare are lazy and because they want to be. She uses her personal example as proof, but those are just her experiences. She never talks about the people who get off Welfare and go on to become very productive citizens. She never thinks that since at that point in her life she was a lazy person who enjoyed being on welfare that she naturally gravitated towards people like her and that's the reason the majority of people she knew on Welfare were lazy. I object to the way she portrays the Welfare system as a system used by mostly African-Americans which it is not. Also, when she makes statements that blame the Enron incident on the people that were defrauded and never gives blame to the greedy executives I have a hard time reading this book since it is so biased. The author does make some good points about how race relations in America are getting better, the need for more self-reliance, and a better outlook towards education by African-Americans. I agree as well that more strong black men would help the black community.
Rating: 
Summary: Yaaawwwwnnnn
Review: Yet another waste of paper from Ms. Parker. She has nothing new to say except that many poor people are lazy. I think we know that since there are lazy, dishonest people in all classes of society. Also, unless you went back in time Ms. Parker, spare me the plantation analogies. Their is nothing in modern day America that comes close to the horrors of plantation slavery. The title is an insult to the sufferings our of black ancestors.
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