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Still The Best Hope: Why The World Needs American Values To Triumph (2012)

by Dennis Prager(Favorite Author)

4.35 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

0061985120 (ISBN13: 9780061985126)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Broadside Books

review 1: Wow.This was a *stunning indictment* - clear, cogent, thorough, level-headed - of both "Leftism" (think Western Europe, supporters of the ideal of socialism) and Islamism (not Islam per se, but those who support sharia-based rule of law or who feel 9/11 was justified), as well as a passionate and unwavering defense of the "American Trinity": Liberty, "In God We Trust", and "E Pluribus Unum."As a self-identifying liberal, one who has spent many years soaked in the "mainstream media" (CNN, Huffington Post, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart et al), this book has made me seriously reconsider many of the things I previously held evident (or as Prager would argue, "felt" evident). After all, it's obvious that the Left is the party of compassion decency, fairness, tolerance, and "s... moreocial justice", right? And the Right is simply a collection of jingoistic, Bible-thumping, homophobic, sexist, racist, and Islamophobic flag-waving zealots, right?This book helped explain and/or confirm many of my sneaking suspicions: that many on the Left are either unable or unwilling to call things out as "wrong" or "evil" (because of moral relativism); the most principled men in our country are those of the military; the motto "war is not the answer" is naïve and foolish; the values of wisdom and authority are underappreciated by liberals; America is not nearly as racist as Leftists proclaim; much of modern art, particularly its scatological fringe, is pathetic; the war in Afghanistan is/was justified and it's not "jingoistic" or "Manichean" to say that much of Islamism - e.g. the Taliban, murdering of innocent tourists, the bombing in Boston - is morally repugnant; a woman's "right to choose" is selfish; welfare contributes to laziness, and a degradation of personal responsibility; crime is not caused by poverty and/or racism...I highly, highly encourage any "open-minded" liberal to read this book. Prager goes toe-to-toe with intellectual titans such as Howard Zinn and Sam Harris, suggesting that far from doing more harm than good, the US has in fact done the most good in the world, brought the most freedom, and is one of the few remaining countries willing to bleed and sacrifice in the fight against evil.Many liberals do not fully understand or appreciate the effect of todays' media (or equivalently, world opinion at large), our typical way of schooling (e.g. the "self esteem" movement, the fear of having one's feelings hurt), and confirmation bias. It is always said that the best debaters are usually those that can argue for either side: all people should strive to continually have their opinions challenged, and I challenge any one with strong opinions (Left or Right) to read this book.But be forewarned: if you're a liberal, after reading this book, you might just end up turning conservative.
review 2: This isn't a book I would normally read but I gave it a chance because my husband liked it so much. I tried to keep an open mind but for the most part, all this book did was succeed in making me enraged. I listened to it in the car and found myself yelling at it on a regular basis.I would say I'm a moderate liberal or "LEFTIST" as Prager calls it (about a million times, I might add). I don't agree with ALL the typical Liberal positions, but for the most part, it's the party I most identify with. But that's probably because I'm a young idiot. According to Prager the Democratic party is made up of wet-behind-the-ears college kids with big egos and small, naive brains. But I digress.I'll admit that Prager had a few valid points. I think the Left has taken the Politically Correct message too far. I also agree that some of the ways in which the Left has tried to promote equality amongst the races has hurt more than it's helped. Things like Affirmative Action. I also agree that we're getting too uptight with our children... not allowing them to compete for fear of them feeling bad if they lose, banning certain foods in schools because of a handful of allergies, etc. But for the most part, Prager just sounded like a typical Right-Winger pushing his agenda by using obscure or even ridiculous examples and pointing the "evil" finger. For instance, he says that all the 60 year olds in the party dress like 20 year olds. And that liberal colleges (which is pretty much all of them) teach to be open-minded in an irresponsible way. So much so, that it convinced a regularly heterosexual woman to be bisexual. And also that the Left thinks it's ok for a woman to masturbate in front of a college class for educational purposes. I don't know who these people are that agree with this stuff, but I can pretty much guarantee they are few and far between. In my opinion it seemed as though Prager was comparing the moderate Right to the wacko far Leftists (like those in the Communist camp). Not a fair comparison of the two parties and not a good representation of the typical left leaning American.Prager liked to talk as if the Right was this meek, intelligent, awesome entity that was constantly at the fists of the supressing Leftists. Always being called names and made to look like they're evil and stupid. Well guess what Prager, I hate to break it to you, but neither party is devoid of blame in that game. Both parties hammer each other mercilessly and both parties try to force their agendas on the other. It's how this thing works, for better or worse.While Prager did make me take a second/deeper look at what I believe, he hardly made his case. I wanted to hear more about why his defined "American Values" were the answer, not why the Left is wrong. less

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