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Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism

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Author: Arthur C. Brooks
Publisher: Basic Books
Category: Book

List Price: ~~$16.95~~
Buy Used: $1.95
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New (29) Used (14) from $1.95

Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 272
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.9

ISBN: 0465008232
Dewey Decimal Number: 361
EAN: 9780465008230
ASIN: 0465008232

Publication Date: December 3, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Condition: superb, crisp, clean, unread with some light shelfwear - VERY NICE!

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Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
We all know we should give to charity, but who really does? In his controversial study of America's giving habits, Arthur C. Brooks shatters stereotypes about charity in America--including the myth that the political Left is more compassionate than the Right. P Brooks, a preeminent public policy expert, spent years researching giving trends in America, and even he was surprised by what he found. In IWho Really Cares/I, he identifies the forces behind American charity: strong families, church attendance, earning one's own income (as opposed to receiving welfare), and the belief that individuals--not government--offer the best solution to social ills. P But beyond just showing us who the givers and non-givers in America really are today, Brooks shows that giving is crucial to our economic prosperity, as well as to our happiness, health, and our ability to govern ourselves as a free people.

Customer Reviews: Read 42 more reviews...

4 out of 5 stars

Marianismo versus masculinisation October 19, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful

Arthur Brooks' book "Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth about Compassionate Conservatism" is a most revealing work that should certainly be read by those wishing to understand the cultural divides that have developed over the OECD nations since the Cold War ended - though they have roots going back before World War I.br /br /What Brooks shows is that, in essence, there is a divide between a gentle, relatively feeling-oriented ("feminine" or "marianismo") religious conservatism characteristic of Red America and a tough, radically thinking-oriented ("machisma") secular liberalism characteristic of Europe, Canada and Blue America. Brooks shows that the extreme secularism and devaluation of traditionally feminine traits like compassion and passive acceptance has created many social and economic problems for Europe, Canada, East Asia and Blue America. He shows very clearly how the decline of religion is related first and foremost to the decline of volunteering and charitable giving, illustrating that the most socially progressive countries (like those of Scandinavia) have the lowest rates of charitable giving and volunteering in the world. This is because the general belief is that everything should be publicly regulated and that people who cannot take care of themselves should be supported by taking money via high taxes from those who can. He also shows that Europeans, Canadians and Blue Americans are unusually pessimistic and unhappy, which some on the Right attribute to their lack of belief in an afterlife related to the disappearance of religion. The better-known decline to lowest-low fertility in much of Europe, East Asia and Canada can be seen in the same way.br /br /Brookes also shows how the influence of religion and conservatism on the level of compassion in a society is independent of factors like gender, income and location. His point that welfare receivers are extremely selfish whereas the working poor are extremely generous is extremely revealing, and he also shows the economic benefits of a more charitable and less regulated society where people are more tolerant of wealth being made in large quantities without taxation. He shows that those states of America with the stingiest unemployment benefits have the most job growth and attract migrants from states where wealth is taxed to pay for welfare.br /br /I do have some genuine criticisms of the book. Many social and ecological indicators clearly reveal that there are benefits to a tough, fully masculinised society (e.g. much higher environmental standards) yet Brooks does not consider this or assumes it to be too well known. In reality, the very fact that Europeans are much more assertive, selfish and materialistic than Red Americans is contrary to common perceptions of the US as a materialistic culture.br /br /Also, the key OECD nations of Australia and New Zealand are not discussed at all. Australia, being culturally conservative and akin to Red America, is a particularly grievous omission. (My calculations suggest Australia's charitable giving level is higher than Europe but not nearly as high as Red America, which I think now reflects Australia's relatively high proportion of "secular conservatives"). East Asia could also have been studied better: I imagine its charitable giving levels will show conservative praise for Hong Kong as counterproductive.br /br /All in all, even if flawed at times badly, "Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth about Compassionate Conservatism" will reveal the battle between conservatives and liberals to be quite different from what people think: instead of a battle between manly conservatives and feminine liberals, the culture war is (and I imagine always was) precisely and emphatically the reverse. Even if you do not buy this book, it will alter your prespectives on how cultures function.

3 out of 5 stars

Some interesting ideas along with spin July 16, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful

This is a worthwhile book that did a lot to break the stereotyped image of tightwad conservatives. However, some of the statistical support is a bit thin, and it seems to be overwhelmed by the conservative and religious viewpoints of the author.

1 out of 5 stars

WEAK! March 17, 2008
5 out of 64 found this review helpful

First of all I like how you can buy this book for $1.95. But instead of wasting that money you should do what I did and support your local library and get it there. (that is if you want to read a really crappy book). br /br /Maybe the author is right about how conservatives give more. But maybe they also feel so guilty about their president running this country into the ground that they HAVE to give. br /br /Or maybe they cheat on their taxes! :o br /br /I feel he stated "facts" over and over again (religious people give more, conservatives give more), that in the end when he restates these "facts" you are supposed to believe them. br /br /I feel if he is trying to cause a movement to give, he blew it. He is just going to piss off us non-giving, greedy, tree hugging, common sense thinking, hippie liberals, while patting the backs of the generous, caring, terrorist fearing, quick to fight, blind conservatives. br /br /I have to finish planting my trees now. (GIVING back to the planet)

5 out of 5 stars

Should be REQUIRED reading in Congress and ALL schools February 27, 2008
8 out of 8 found this review helpful

This is a well-researched, respectful, compassionate book that reveals the TRUE American character: one of remarkable charity at home and abroad, with money, time, and talents. My hat is off to Brooks for gathering the difficult to locate information and carefully documenting the facts about American culture and spirit. We are a giving people. THIS is exactly the trait we must not lose--not from a consistently overbearing nanny state mentality or from a lack of compassion that is springing up as a reaction to governmental interference in every aspect of our lives. God, family, and country are sound principles that form the basis for our compassion and have made this country the envy of the world. There are many problems in the world, but the SOLUTION is voluntary cooperation by individuals in virtually all circumstances.

4 out of 5 stars

Thought-provoking January 23, 2008
9 out of 11 found this review helpful

I first heard about this book on the Michael Medved show, and I was intrigued by the fact that this politically liberal professor had more concern for the nature of giving than he did for his own ideological peers. Many hard-line conservatives will, of course, use the material here to slam their liberal opponents, but in so doing, I think that they miss the point that Prof. Brooks was trying to make. Charity of any kind is a gift to the recipient and the giver, not a club to beat people with.br /br /When I recommend this book to my politically liberal friends and family, it's because I want them to have a better understanding of the difference between private giving and government funding. Private giving is shown to be much more focused and beneficial to all concerned. Government funding taxes us, takes a cut for operational and administrative costs, and distributes the funds to the needy according to the dictates of those in power. Even if we put aside the argument over how much good is done this way, how much better off would the country and the world be if the more secular and liberal people simply matched the private giving of the more religious and conservative people?br /br /When I hear a wealthy politician say that we need to raise taxes in order to help the underpriveleged, the first thing I wonder is "How much did YOU personally give last year?" It might be a good thing for anyone to ask as they debate the merits of public vs. private funding. While some of the statistical material in the book is pretty dry, the overall message is positive, and worth considering: Give, whether it's money, time, or simply a kind word. You'll be a better, happier person for it.

Copyright 2007 White Hat Communications.
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