Genre:
Non-Fiction/Politics
Description:
“The
Idea of America led to independent sovereign States, then to a
Constitution and a new Union. The results of this 'American
Experiment' were exceptional. Phase One, the first 120 years or so,
marked a quantum leap in the standard of living and wealth, the
result of a free people living under the Rule of Law. In Phase Two,
since about 1900, America has diverged from its founding principles;
today we find a country exceptional in many other ways, some of them
not so positive. We are now entering Phase Three, and it is critical
that more Americans are involved in the democratic process; that they
identify their core beliefs; that they learn about our founding
principles; and that they understand the politics and economics that
are affecting our future as a nation. Throughout history great
nations have risen and fallen; there is no guarantee that the
American Experiment will survive. But it should. Liberty, the
recognition of unalienable human Rights, and the Rule of Law are
critically important. Freedom, however, is not free. This book
started out as a series of letters and rants to my kids and
grandkids, an attempt to help them learn about the issues facing us.
It is for anyone who believes in the Idea of America and wants to
participate in keeping the American Experiment alive.”
Author:
An
Idaho native and graduate of Boise State University (Go Broncos) with
a Business Administration degree in economics, Steven Hall is an
entrepreneur. He is also a self-described “student of political
and economic systems.”
Appraisal:
I'll
start this review off with a confession. Going in, based on my quick
scan of the book description, I fully expected to vehemently disagree
with the vast majority of America
IS Exceptional. Your
reaction to that statement might be, “then why would you read it?”
The
answer is simple. I believe that one of the biggest issues with
current political discourse in the US is that too many Americans
don't bother to understand the case to be made for the other side of
an issue. It's as though they're afraid to let their beliefs be
challenged, instead preferring to limit the information they use for
political decisions to sources such as the not-so-fair-and-balanced
Fox News or one of the over-the-top liberal websites. If we all
refuse to exit our echo chamber, nothing will ever get accomplished
other than creating a bunch of noise and we all lose. Nothing gets
done and problems remain unaddressed.
Unfortunately,
all too often the politically oriented books I read are filled with
the standard talking points which from my viewpoint have gaping holes
or obvious flaws. Regular readers of my reviews might have seen my
less-than-complementary take on one or two of those. Even if there is
a valid point in those books, the mountain of bull excrement makes it
difficult to find any diamonds buried within. America
IS Exceptional is
different in this regard.
A few
years ago a friend of mine made a statement about politics that has
stuck with me. She said that in political discussions we should keep
in mind that “we all want the same things,” giving examples of
having the opportunities available to pursue our goals, have a good
life, and leave a better world for our kids and grandkids. The author
explains this book originated as letters to those kids and grandkids
with a disclaimer that due to this there might be a bit of redundancy
he'd failed to edit out while he was compiling and polishing them for
this book. There was a little redundancy, but more importantly, it
was obvious that he and I have the same big picture goals in what we
want for our kids, grandkids, and all Americans, now and in the
future.
More
of a surprise to me, we mostly agree on the reasons or at least
symptoms of underlying issues that show we're falling short of our
mutual hopes and dreams for the country's future. Any disagreement is
on the solutions and there were far fewer disagreements than I
expected. (Regardless of your political ideology, I'd be amazed if
you didn't find some areas where you and the author see eye to eye.)
In some instances where I didn't agree, I still found my opinions
being changed or at least modified a bit some of the time, and in all
I came away with a better understanding of why some people feel
differently about an issue than I do.
I
could hit on examples of areas of agreement or attempt to refute
those where I think he's off base. But I'm not sure that would be
useful for the potential reader. Instead I'll suggest that whether
you expect you'd agree or disagree with the author, you're probably
only partially correct, and I think could benefit from his insightful
perspectives either way.
Format/Typo
Issues:
A
small number of typos and other copyediting and proofreading misses.
Rating:
**** Four Stars
Reviewed
by: BigAl
Approximate word count:
60-65,000 words
2 comments:
What a terrific and well reasoned review, Al. As my reaction to the title was as you described, I'll have to give the book a try.
Thanks, Pete. I'd be curious on your take.
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