I've been putting off reading some of my "conservative" books for a while because, despite the refreshing feeling of reading something in the political sphere that I actually agree with, the subjects brought up in these tend to depress the hell out of me. I really like Mona Charen's books, as they are massively annotated (over 700 source references for a 236-page book), and she, unlike Ann Coulter, never embarrasses with forays into thumping for religion.A follow-up to her excellent book Useful Idiots, which took a look at how the Liberal/Left was complicit in the scourge of totalitarian (primarily those of the Communist bent, of course) states around the globe over the past half century and more, Do-Gooders: How Liberals Hurt Those They Claim to Help (and the Rest of Us) turns its attention to the disaster that Liberal/Left policies have wrought at home, the core concept appearing in this paragraph from the introduction:
I found the bit about "the idea of their own righteousness" a sterling observation, as damn near every Liberal that I have ever known was more into how "they felt" rather than the ultimate effects of what they were doing to create those warm fuzzies!Are liberals truly more concerned about the poorest and weakest members of society than other Americans? Or are they simply in love with the idea of their own righteousness? When you demonstrate indifference to the harmful effects of your supposedly benevolent efforts, isn't it fair to call your motives into question? Besides, throughout the past four decades, liberals have caused real damage. If that is "compassion", then clearly we need a great deal less of it.
This book looks at social hot buttons such as law and order, race relations, the rise of the Welfare state, the destruction of the "traditional" family, the root causes of homelessness, and the decay of education. Here's a sample of what she says about the penultimate of those:
Frankly, most of the ills discussed in the book can be traced back to "foolish ideas" embraced by self-centered idealists whose basic drive was making themselves look "smart" or "enlightened" to their narrow peer group! However, as small as the Liberal/Left "theoretical core" might have been, they had a HUGE cheering section in the press, especially in the post-Watergate press filled with Quixotic warriors seeking to take down the next Dragon of normalcy, sanity, or tradition. For most of the past 40 years, there has not been a Leftist lie too blatant for the Press to ignore investigating, preferring to grab the falsehood and advance it by any means possible ...Homelessness came into being because liberal policy makers embraced a series of foolish ideas. They themselves were alienated from society, and so they romanticized the mentally ill and transformed them into social critics. This was unjust both to American society and to the mentally ill themselves, who paid a terrible price for the liberals' social experiment.
Needless to say, this is certainly the case today, with the Democratic leadership (and their allies in the media and academia) daily spewing out venom with no basis in fact, that goes on to become "common knowledge" among the unquestioning mass that still relies on the Left-controlled MSM ...The Democrats, of course, can say the moon is a balloon. Without the echo chamber of the press, their words would scarcely ripple the capital's reflecting pool. But the liberal press amplifies and dignifies the Democrats' charges, giving the most partisan and unjustified attacks the patina of statesmanship.
... after all, who needs facts if your "goals" are pure enough ... can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs, right? Arrgh! I get enraged just thinking of this.(claiming that "[test scores] don't tell us anything" is) a familiar do-gooder trope. If the facts don't support your point of view, dismiss the facts as irrelevant.
Anyway, Do-Gooders is another of those books that I really wish EVERYBODY would read, but I doubt any Liberals out there would dare to (after all, their friends would be mortified to know somebody who was reading a "blacklisted" conservative author and would probably freeze them out as a turn-coat for the simple act of considering the evidence!), and I fear it will only raise the bloodpressure of the conservatives. This is, however, available for very little at the moment. Amazon's new/used vendors have the trade paperback available new for only 1¢ (an even $4 with shipping), and Amazon has the hardcover at a special bargain price of just $4.99 ... I've been considering buying six (gotta get that free shipping) just to have extra copies to give out! It's still in print, so you can likely even get it through your local brick-and-mortar store, but DO go get a copy, and marvel at the horrors that Liberalism has foisted on our once-great country!
