Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compasionate Conservatism Who Gives, Who Doesn't, and Why It Matters by Basic Books

	Title: Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compasionate Conservatism Who Gives, Who Doesn't, and Why It Matters Purchase Item Manufacturer: Basic Books List Price: $26.00 Our Price: $2.81
Customer Reviews:
Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compasionate Conservatism Who Gives, Who Doesn't, and Why It Matters by Basic Books WEAK!
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). 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. Or maybe they cheat on their taxes! :o 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. 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. I have to finish planting my trees now. (GIVING back to the planet)
Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compasionate Conservatism Who Gives, Who Doesn't, and Why It Matters by Basic Books Should be REQUIRED reading in Congress and ALL schools
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.
Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compasionate Conservatism Who Gives, Who Doesn't, and Why It Matters by Basic Books Thought-provoking
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. 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? 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.
Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compasionate Conservatism Who Gives, Who Doesn't, and Why It Matters by Basic Books Important data obscured by excessive political bias
Brooks shares some important data here, and while there are those who will argue till the cows come home about whether the data themselves are accurate, my instinct tells me they are. However, the book comes across with such a pronounced conservative political bias, it frequently overwhelms the objective data. Brooks builds a convincing case that data show religious Americans of all stripes--both conservative AND liberal--give vastly more than their secular counterparts, and then he jumps to the conclusion that these data support conservative principals regarding taxes and social services. He further claims that his purpose is to defend "compassionate conservatives" against the unjust accusations of the secular liberals, and to inspire those liberals to put their own donations behind their considerable rhetoric. He does this in such strident anti-liberal tones that the only ones likely to hear his message are those of his own fold. . .one doesn't inspire good action out of people (secular liberals in this case) by first spending over 150 pages telling them how selfish and unreasonable they are. His use of statistics is unfortunately compromised by sloppiness with numbers--for example defending elimination of the estate tax by claiming that heirs are "likely to give much of it away" a few pages after he has shown statistics that a $20,000 inheritance generates on average $82 in donations. If Brooks had stuck to reporting what the numbers demonstrate, there is a great deal of useful information to be gleaned about who gives and who doesn't. If he had then gone on to exhort ALL OF US to give more than we do he'd be doing the nation a great service. As it is, this is a work that will largely soothe religious conservatives into complacency and raise the blood pressure of liberals, while changing very few minds. A missed opportunity, to be sure.
Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compasionate Conservatism Who Gives, Who Doesn't, and Why It Matters by Basic Books Validation
A great read. The only thing I would fault is the subtitle about "Compassionate Conservatism." I always hated that combination of terms because it implied that Conservatism was not Compassionate before George W Bush came along. I knew it always was, but thanks to Arthur Brooks, I have the data to validate my assumption. One surprise I had was the extent to which support for government programs replaces the desire to behave charitably. So the next time a liberal lectures you, saying how much they care for the poor, lend them this book.
Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compasionate Conservatism Who Gives, Who Doesn't, and Why It Matters by Basic Books Product Description
We all know we should give to charity, but who really does? Approximately three-quarters of Americans give their time and money to various charities, churches, and causes; the other quarter of the population does not. Why has America split into two nations: givers and non-givers? Arthur Brooks, a top scholar of economics and public policy, has spent years researching this trend, and even he was surprised by what he found. In Who Really Cares, he demonstrates conclusively that conservatives really are compassionate-far more compassionate than their liberal foes. Strong families, church attendance, earned income (as opposed to state-subsidized income), and the belief that individuals, not government, offer the best solution to social ills-all of these factors determine how likely one is to give. Charity matters--not just to the givers and to the recipients, but to the nation as a whole. It is crucial to our prosperity, happiness, health, and our ability to govern ourselves as a free people. In Who Really Cares, Brooks outlines strategies for expanding the ranks of givers, for the good of all Americans.