What's So Great About America

After watching an interview of Mr. D'Souza a few days ago. I was so impressed with his answer, presentation and his intellectual prowess that I put aside my copy of John Adams and my edition of the "Qur'an", a translation by Abdullah Yusuf Ali and picked up his book. I started the Ali translation because as a fan of Sun Tzu I wanted to know the enemy who wanted to make war on my country and me as well.After watching this interview and the unique outlook that Mr. D'Souza brought to the issue of America and its foreign and domestic enemies I picked up "What's so great about America." I must say that I was pleasantly surprised by the time I finished. That I could finish it in only two days meant that it was gripping and an easy and interesting read.What an amazing, rational and reasoned view of America from a past, present and futuristic position. Mr. D'Souza holds a mirror up to all of us from both an outside and an inside perspective and makes us see some unpleasant truths, yet shows us the silver lining as well.Unfortunately most Americans cannot even imagine what we here in this great country look like to the rest of the world. Unless of coarse one has traveled, it is difficult to judge the bounty, in comparison to so many we all, I say again WE ALL, black, red, yellow, white and other, have here in America. Being a military career retiree I have been blessed with that unique opportunity to see the world and develop a healthy respect, admiration and love of country which Mr. D'Souza speaks of. I think that graduation from high school should include a weeklong survival trip to a third world country to open the eyes of our young people.Mr. D'Souza has a decidedly unique perspective on so many issues that face us in the global arena today. It is sad that our TV talk shows host and Newspaper editors have lost this talent for true unbiased reporting and his simple honesty on so many issues. It is just impossible for the Chris Matthews and Bill O'Reilly's of the world to address these issues as candidly and honestly as Mr. D'Souza seems to do.Of course the most refreshing part of this book was that Mr. D'souza was not flaunting any political or particular ideology like most of us do. He was truly being fair and balanced, applauding and condemning both sides equally I think.This impressive "tell it like it was and is" book at first made me a little squeamish, nearly putting it down and going back to my previous reads after the first 10 pages or so. That was because I probably had the same reaction most people do after reading the first chapter. I started to think hey, this guy is just knocking America and is nothing more than an advertising agent for Osama Bin Laden or some other Middle Eastern anti-American wacko and hate monger. Who does he think he is!But I stuck it out and read a little further and then realized with humble reevaluation that he was right in all that he was saying. It was my own ego and personal pride that had flared up in premature indignation at being called so many bad things, which were simply his relaying of what was in the minds of some of those on the outside looking in.I realized after a little more self-critical evaluation as a member of a larger society, and after putting my temper on hold. That what he was saying was true down to the last point. We are a representation of those sinful, deviant, hedonistic and disgusting things, in some parts of our culture, like Hollywood and the film Industries, the Porn Industries and various other institutions, which other cultures see when they evaluate America. Even if we as individuals, families and/or communities do not participate in those degrading acts or industries, it is a part of the American culture and that is what the Islamic and Muslim societies find disgusting and intolerable. In a sense they hate today's excessive liberalism and unethical progressiveness, which seems to have no more of a moral compass than a rabbit or a bunch of Gardner snakes.But what Mr. D'Souza finally begins to make clear is that this is the tendency others have to only see the tarnished brass and pewter fixtures of our society and by doing so ignore the silver and gold that ornaments the American people and many of our institutions as well.There are still plenty of Tocqueville worthy individuals and communities left our there to respect and 9-11 also proved that there is a grand and good spirit in America that rest just beneath the surface in great and vast numbers, just like the Fremen' in the movie "DUNE". We are better in so many areas than most think and we should not be ashamed of it.If I had been advising Mr. D'Souza however, I would have recommended his last statement be a saying from John Steuart Mill, which would have fit our post 9-11 character beautifully.Slightly modified for the 21st century, it goes like this, "War is an ugly thing but not the ugliest of things; the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feelings, which thinks that nothing is worth fighting for is much worse. A citizen who has nothing for which he/she is willing to fight, nothing they care about more than their personal safety, are miserable creatures who has no chance of being free...unless made and kept so by the exertions of better beings than themselves."It would have fit his premise perfectly that America is worth supporting, defending, cherishing and being proud of. Great job Mr. D'Souza and I promise not to say, "I am also writing a book" if I ever get the honor to meet you...

What a shame 21st century USA is so polarized where being a liberal, conservative, Democrat, Republican (etc.) means either entirely accepting without question ideas along party or ideological lines -- or entirely without question rejecting them. People don't want to give "the (domestic political) enemy" a full hearing, let alone even partly CONSIDER a foe's arguments, even if they're reasoned and make actually make SENSE. It's a shame because this book (published by the conservative publishing house Regnery, which is itself like waving a red flag in front of a bull for some people) is so engaging,well-written, convincing and solid that Dinesh D'Souza may one day be considered a modern day Alexis de Tocqueville. Three fascinating levels mark this highly perceptive book:1. D'Souza, who became a US citizen in 1991, shares how his life would have been quite different if he had grown up in his native India.2. He makes fascinating observations about how US life and culture differ from various parts of the world, especially the Third World. These are the ones future generations may consider on the same level as de Tocqueville's.3. And then there is material directly related to the book's title. He makes the case, in a nutshell, that other cultures (especially fundamentalist Islamic) detest the United Statesbecause Americans are inner-directed and can write their own life's script, while Islamic culture seeks a life controlled and dictated by others. One key conclusion certainly will not endear him to Islamic fundamentalists. He says the Islamic world is nothing without oil revenues. "The only reason it (the Islamic world) makes the news is by killing people," he writes. "When is the last time you opened the newspaper to read about a great Islamic discovery or invention? While China and India, two other empires that were eclipsed by the West, have embraced Western technology and even assumed a leadership role in some areas, Islam's contributions to modern science and technology is negligible." In this book, written after 911, he concludes that terrorism is merely "a desperate strike against a civilization that the fundamentalists know they have no power to conquer" so they try to "disrupt and terrify the people of America and the West." The book is worth its price ALONE for his observations on how American culture differs from the third world and many Islamic countries: Americans have to be convinced they are fighting a war for noble reasons; young people go away to college and don't return, whereas in other countries this would be like "abandoning one's offspring"; other cultures cherish age, the US worships youth; people welcome visitors for long periods in the Third World where Americans want to get rid of visitors within days. And more. D'Souza also takes on the "multiculturalists" who, he writes, detest the melting pot idea and "want immigrants to be in America but not of America." And he shows many flashesof great wit. Two of them:--On French criticism of the US: "Many Americans find it hard to take the French critique seriously, coming as it does from men who carry handbags."--On calls for reparations for African-Americans (he completely DEMOLISHES arguments for reparations) he writes debating foe Jesse Jackson: "I found the concept of this rich, successful man -- who arrived by private jet, who speaks at the DemocraticNational Convention, whose son is a congressman -- identifying himself as a victim of oppression a bit puzzling and amusing." D'Souza decimates critics' arguments against American foreign policy, history and culture. . But his greatest analysis is how World War II's "Greatest Generation," tempered by surviving the Great Depression and the brutal war, upheld traditional values by cherishing necessity and duty -- only to fail to replicate these values in their offspring who made answering their inner voices, pursing their own desires and personal authenticities the focus of their lives....until. Sept. 11. "Only now are those Americans who grew up during the 1960s coming to appreciate the virtues,...of this older sturdier culture of courage, nobility and sacrifice," he writes. "Itis this culture that will protect the liberties of all Americans."