Rating: 
Summary: Sort of dry in a few places
Review: I like most of Dinesh D'Souza's books, but this book was a bit dry. I guess maybe the subject matter didn't really lend itself to a full book. It just couldn't hold my attention. While some parts were somewhat interesting--such as, the discussion of the super-rich, and who owns what in America. Overall I would pass on this book. I can recommend his other books, though.
Rating: 
Summary: THE PRESENT "ERA OF UNPRECEDENTED PROSPERITY": GOOD OR BAD?
Review: The American Enterprise Institute's enfant terrible Dartmouth College grad author (his 1991 book, ILLIBERAL EDUCATION: The Politics Of Race And Sex caused quite a stir), Dinesh D'Souza (born in India, became a USA citizen in 1991) has written a very interesting book titled THE VIRTUE OF PROSPERITY (2000). It's about the moral and ethical aspects of the present highly touted USA wealth "boom," and it asks the intelligent question, is all this so-called "wealth" really success? D'Souza points out early in his book that techno-capitalism in the present age has created enormous inequalities, has undermined families and communities, and has all but destroyed many of our (previously) most cherished values. He asks the question "how can we learn to be happy with out 'success'?" Well, being sponsored by the unabashedly right-wing, pro-capitalism American Enterprise Institute (a Washington, D.C. "think tank" dedicated to telling it the way right-wingers think it is), Mr. D'Souza doesn't really join the attack on what's happened to equality, families, communities, and values. He is rather an unabashed apologist for "aren't these great times" crowd. After all, he's been on their payroll since finishing Dartmouth in the early 80's (and prepared for it by working as a student staffer on the infamous DARTMOUTH REVIEW, then America's most famous conservative student publication). Even so, agree with Mr. D'Souza or not, he does raise many very intelligent and interesting questions, and provides a generous amount of space in his 284 page book for the opposing side to tell its story. His book is worth buying and reading, and offers several valuable features, most especially his well organized and extensive chapter end notes (he was highly praised for similar notes provided in his book ILLIBERAL EDUCATION). The first part of THE VIRTUE OF PROSPERITY is the best part. Dinesh D'Souza provides a well written and intelligent backgrounder to the various issues and situations surrounding the current "good times." He asks the question "What's new about the new economy?" and comes up with interesting points and answers. He points out, for instance, that the world's richest man, Bill Gates of Microsoft, was worth in 2000 a cool (or hot) $100 billion (net worth). In contrast, John D. Rockefeller at his peak was worth a paltry $17 billion in today's money. D'Souza observes that Bill Gates and his descendants could spend $10 million A DAY IN PERPETUITY and NEVER run out of money. Now that's wealth! If Bill were a country, he would be number thirty five in the world rankings, surpassing the gross domestic products of Hungary, Ireland, Israel, and New Zealand! He ranks just ahead of Finland, and just behind Greece. An unlike John D., it didn't take him long to get where he is. The author wows us with other (many other) statistics of this sort, and in so doing, allows his book to take on the personality of sort of research scholars versions of WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE? The best part of the book follows. D'Souza gets down to a serious discussion of mass affluence and its discontents in a chapter titled The Gathering Storm. He then moves on to discuss the subject of "merit," and the many people it leaves behind. He states that success must at times be regarded as a lottery, and explains who wins, and who loses. By far, the best chapter in the book is titled Eye Of The Needle: The Moral Critique Of Prosperity. This is followed by a poignant chapter titled The World We Have Lost: Goodbye Nature, Family, and Community. Get this book and read it. The cult of prosperity and affluence has been touted by a very self-interested lot of politicians, businessmen, and others the late H.L. Mencken would have called "wowzers." Their hidden agenda is almost unexamined in current literature or mass media, and Dinesh D'Souza's book, THE VIRTUE OF PROSPERITY comes as close as any I have read to getting down to the nitty gritty about what really has happened, and what it all means.
Rating:
Summary: Capitalism 1, Socialism 0
Review: This book clearly demonstrates how capitalism trumps socialism both economically, technologically, and morally. In the kinds of clear tones sometimes available only from non-native Americans like the Indian born D'Souza, we learn how the private vices of capitalism (selfishness, greed) are essential to the resulting public goods of capitalism (jobs, increased life expectancy, better healthcare). Through these public goods, Christians, Jews, and other denominations can better rationalize capitalism in the context of the Bible, Torah, etc. Most dramatically, however, are the nails in the coffin of Marxist thought: e.g., Archer Daniels Midland and Monsanto by far have done more to alleviate poverty and hunger worldwide than all the soup kitchens and government food programs worldwide in history. This is, of course, blasphemy to the left, but D'Souza provides a refreshing view of the relevance of capitalism in every person's pursuit of happiness and marks what I hope is the first of a wave of writing finally putting to rest the notion that the government, not individuals, knows best how to allocate scarce resources in a society.
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