Audacity of Hope-Book Review

I’ve actually felt guilty being so critical of Obama without having read his book, “The Audacity of Hope.” So, to rectify this problem I read it at the bookstore for 30 minutes without buying it and came away with a slightly less negative picture.  Still, Obama’s writing failed to alleviate most of my concerns.

The book is written at an 8th grade level, and much of his time is spent summarizing recent history in a rather non-controversial way.  His tone is moderate and he avoids many hot-button issues such as the Israel-Palestine conflict. Still, he could not hide his quasi-socialist tendencies entirely. He did mention that our system of enterprise has led to our prosperity, but his take on the New Deal was very positive and he ridiculed conservatives that were concerned that FDR’s programs represented “creeping socialism.” He states that New Deal policies were merely “Keynesian economics” without fully explaining the term.  Among other things Keynesian economics calls for price-controls.  Keynesian theory still has some hold on some economists, but many of its tenets are discredited.  Price controls have always created artificially low prices that stifle supply of needed goods.  It’s an example of another well-intended failure of big-government thinking.  

The most alarming passage in the book came during his discussion of Indonesia.  There he blames the rise of Islamic militancy partly on those that want to export “American-style capitalism.”  I failed to see a good explanation of cause and effect, and the book wasn’t specific enough for a full analysis.  It’s true that the administrations of Bush, Clinton, Bush and Reagan all tried vigorously to open up markets to American companies, and that sometime the deals were bad for certain countries in the short-term, but to put the blame on “American-style capitalism?!”  That’s another story.

Last I checked McDonalds and Coke never put guns to peoples’ heads to force them to buy products, unlike the Islamic militants who offer the choice of Sharia law or death.  In fact, I believe the McDonalds theory of world peace still holds.  No two nations with McDonalds Restaurants have fought in a war against one another.  Also, American style capitalism has worked quite well in China and India, who have dramatically raised their peoples’ standard of living. He doesn’t really mention that.

Also, Obama talks in very vague terms about restoring shattered communities.  In an earlier post, I showed that Obama’s previous efforts at helping communities largely failed.  Who could argue that some communities need help?  However his proposals in this area should be greeted with skepticism.  He does seem to imply that “soulless capitalism” destroys communities.  I would say the problem is busy people that neglect their spirituality, but that’s my opinion.  How do you make people care about community?  Pol Pot cared a lot about community.  He believed in forcing people to eat communally and he killed 2 million in a communist revolution.  I surely don’t think Obama would commit such atrocities, but he really has no good ideas about making our communities stronger.  

Ultimately after reading the book, I still could not understand why Obama has such a hold on so many people.  The book certainly was not full of tremendous hope or exciting ideas. It was very nuanced, careful and bland overall.

Explore posts in the same categories: Socialism, communists

Tags: Audacity of Hope, Obama

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