false 9742 0307237699 9780307237699 12323 2627 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255619255m/9742.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9742.The_Audacity_of_Hope_Thoughts_on_Reclaiming_the_American_Dream 6356 Barack Obama 27528 6145 5 4 false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 14 04:06:00 -0800 2008 Sun Aug 03 06:20:04 -0700 2008
Part memoir, part declaration and history of liberal wisdom, this book was a true pleasure to experience. Research and anecdotes constitute the foundation of this work. The justification of liberal thought and politics, made to seem indubitable in this text, is enveloped here in themes of hope, optimism, and virtuous American strength.

In the chapter titled Opportunity, Obama tells us about speaking with Warren Buffett, the world's second richest man. Buffett had wanted to discuss taxes with Senator Obama, to express his dissatisfaction with Bush's tax benefits for the rich. Buffett, whose income comes from dividends and capital gains, is taxed at an effective rate of only half that of his own receptionist, an American who makes her living from working wages, not investment income. Buffett's success comes from a talent for acquiring money - he is a good business man. But, Buffett points out, this talent would be useless if he had been born into a different type of society, such that of hunter-gatherers for instance. In that case, being a man of neither extraordinary strength or speed, he would struggle to survive. He benefits from the developed free market organization of our society more than most other people, just as a big, strong man benefits in the hunter-gatherer society, where that man probably does more than his share of the hunting and gathering. "'It just makes sense that those of us who've benefited most from the market should pay a bigger share'" to maintain that society which favors them, says Buffett.

Continuing in that vein, in his chapter titled The World Beyond Our Borders, Obama turns to the words of President John F. Kennedy, saying that America would pledge itself to helping the poor and suffering people around the world "'not because the Communists may be doing it, not because we seek their votes, but because it is right. If a free society cannot help those who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.'"

In his justification of government-run Social Security, Obama shows an adroit understanding of the rationale behind FDR's plan to keep America safe from totalitarian government. He dismisses the conservative myth that the purpose of the "welfare state" is to transform government into a gigantic wet blanket weighing down the American people. Instead, Obama reminds us that in the years of The Great Depression, developed countries around the world were falling prey to Communism, to Fascism, to Socialism. FDR saved the American people and government from these dangers by "giving workers a larger share of the economic pie," thereby cutting the legs out from the fear and oppression of the people, that open doors for those freedom-stealing isms.

And, to understand how to avoid actually becoming the overbearing "welfare state" that conservatives fear so fervently, Obama turns to paraphrasing Abraham Lincoln: "that we will do collectively, through our government, only those things that we cannot do as well or at all individually and privately." Just as FDR insured the freedom and prosperity of America by investing in capitalism and democracy, Obama delineates how that wisdom will serve us still today.

Whether he is giving us political history or writing about how he fell in love with his wife and cherishes his daughters, Barack Obama employs skill as a wordsmith to exhibit a solid grasp of important family and public values. The Audacity of Hope, then, proves to be as instructive and wise as it is interesting and good.
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