Compassionate Conservatism: What It Is, What It Does, and How It Can Transform America [Hardcover]

Marvin Olasky (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 15, 2000

Compassionate conservatism is a new political force in the land, sweeping the grassroots of people of all faiths, races, and ethnicities. In its parts it offers solutions to many of our most intractable problems; in its whole it is nothing less than an innovative philosophy of government. No author is more qualified to explain its power and promise than Marvin Olasky, described by "The New York Times" as "the godfather of compassionate conservatism."

Compassionate conservatism offers a new paradigm for how the government can and should intervene in the economy. It begins with a long-lost premise about human behavior: economics, by itself, is not what changes lives. Only faith, and deeply held beliefs, can do that. For decades government has focused only on material well-being, ignoring the passions and convictions that make life worth living. What is conservative about the new movement is that its leaders also know that government cannot instill these beliefs. What it can do is help them flourish. It can give aid, inspiration, and direction to America's natural "armies of compassion" that have been a hallmark of our history since the founding.

Compassionate conservatism offers a way to transcend the root problems that currently oppress too many deserving Americans. It offers a unique vision of the triangular relationship between the state, our many churches, and our tens of thousands of charities. It is a true reinvention of welfare, a wholesale revolution in the welfare state, and a redefinition of the social safety net.

In "Compassionate Conservatism" Marvin Olasky takes us on a road trip with his son, Daniel, across the country, showing exactly how the new movement is unfolding. Along the way, he offers a set of principles, and a brief tour through history to show that these are not so much radically new ideas as rediscoveries of long-lost wisdom. Read this book for a blueprint of the future of politics and welfare in America.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

If 2000 Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush has a catchphrase, it's "compassionate conservatism." But like so many political slogans, this term can mean very different things. Marvin Olasky--author of The Tragedy of American Compassion and an advisor to Bush--seeks to describe what he believes it is. And he must be onto something, for, as Bush writes in a brief introduction, "This book clearly summarizes the principles of compassionate conservatism." Here's the nub: "Poverty around the world is a spiritual as well as a material problem: most poor people don't have the faith that they and their situations can change.... Economic redistribution by itself cannot fight poverty effectively because it does not affect the attitudes that frequently undergird poverty." To put it more bluntly, religious faith should play a greater role in public life, especially when it comes to delivering social services to the deprived:

The major flaw of the modern welfare state is not that it is extravagant, but that it is too stingy. It gives the needy bread and tells them to be content with that alone. It gives the rest of us the opportunity to be stingy also, and to salve our consciences even as we scrimp on what many of the destitute need most--love, time, and a challenge to be "little lower than the angels" rather than one thumb up from monkeys.

The bulk of the book is given to descriptions of Olasky's travels around the country with his 10-year-old son, visiting faith-based organizations in some of America's toughest neighborhoods. These vignettes, told in the first person, recall feel-good Reader's Digest stories about ordinary men and women accomplishing extraordinary things in some of the most difficult circumstances imaginable. Parts of the book read like a Bush campaign speech--indeed, one of the appendices is a Bush campaign speech--and Olasky goes out of his way to take a few swipes at Vice President Al Gore. If readers want to get a sense of what a Bush administration might try to accomplish, at least on the domestic front, Compassionate Conservatism is a great place to start--and miles ahead of Bush's own dull campaign biography A Charge to Keep. --John J. Miller

From Publishers Weekly

"Compassionate conservatism" is a phrase used by Texas governor and Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush, but he didn't originate it. Credit for that goes to his advisor Olasky, who, in his 1992 book The Tragedy of American Compassion, proposed that the needs of the poor and uneducated could be better met through the efforts of local, faith-based organizations than through a big, bureaucratic social-welfare machine. As Olasky explains in this manifesto, compassionate conservatism requires looking behind the overt problems of poverty, illiteracy and drug-addiction to address the structures that sustain themAthey must "bring civil society back to the inner city." Olasky describes his travels across the country visiting faith-based local groups that have made a difference. The centerpiece of his tour is Indianapolis, where a coalition of churches, businesses and civic organizations has developed partnerships to transform inner-city neighborhoods block by block. Olasky, who edits the Christian news magazine World, argues that faith is an essential part of the process (and to those who object, he responds that the words "separation of church and state" do not appear in the First Amendment). He even proposes the creation of a White House office of advocacy for faith-based organizations imbued with "the rock-like faith of someone who believes that Christ changes lives." His partisan and sure-to-be-controversial primer opens with a foreword by Bush and closes with Bush's July 1999 speech defining compassionate conservatism, in which he promised, if elected president, to allow religious, as well as nonsectarian, groups to compete to provide services on federal, state and local levels. (July)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 226 pages
• Publisher: Free Press; 1st edition (January 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743201310
• ISBN-13: 978-0743201315
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,670,198 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Editor-in-chief of WORLD. Holder, Patrick Henry College chair in journalism and public policy. Dean, World Journalism Institute. Senior Fellow, Acton Institute.

Love: Susan and I have been married for 35 years. Four terrific sons and one wonderful daughter-in-law: Peter and Catherine, David, Daniel, and Benjamin

Formal education: B.A. from Yale University in 1971, Ph.D. in American Culture from the University of Michigan in 1976. Real education: Grew up in Judaism, became an atheist and a communist, and then (purely through God's grace) a Christian in 1976.

Other activities over the years: foster parent, Pony League assistant coach, PTA president, board chairman of a crisis pregnancy center and a Christian school, elder in the Presbyterian Church in America. Credited (or discredited) with developing the ideas of compassionate conservatism and biblical objectivity.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Taking back oneself, March 10, 2003

By 

rampant reader "dxystar" (Newton, KS USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Compassionate Conservatism: What It Is, What It Does, and How It Can Transform America (Hardcover)

The Sixties gave us many things. One thing it took away was the willingness and ability of Americans as individuals to take responsibility for themselves and to be accountabe for their actions. Compassionate conservatism is a way to return responsibility and accountability to individuals and, in so doing, freeing them from poverty, addictions, and other negative behaviors. Many people attack compassionate conservatism as some religious trend but if all religious elements are stripped from it, what remains is the same idea of taking responsibility for one's own actions that mental health professionals try to get their clients to develop. If you have never worked with any of the populations Olasky describes, then you are not qualified to judge what he has written about them and whether compassionate conservatism offers a way out of their depressing lifestyles. I have been a member of some of those populations and I have worked with them since "recovering". There may be other ways to achieve success but compassionate conservatism offers something sure-fire. It works when other methods don't. Marvin Olasky does write with the pedantism of the academic. If you get past that, however, the message is compelling. The book is a quick read.

19 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Thought provoking, December 27, 2000

By 

L. Coombs "Eclectic Reader" (Hudsonville, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Compassionate Conservatism: What It Is, What It Does, and How It Can Transform America (Hardcover)

I found this book to be very thought provoking. It doesn't matter if the reader agrees or disagrees with the author's point of view. The book gives the reader a great deal to think about with regard to our nations current welfare situation and the roll of "faith-based" organitions in the fight against poverty. While in the author's examples, I saw many positive example of successful help to the impoverished of America, I felt the author did fail to explain one thing. Mr. Olasky's held the belief that our government should help partially fund private groups that combat poverty because he sites them as being more influential. However, if funding goes to private as well as public programs, I simply see that as more spending. That is simply my opinion as a person with no political connections at all. Read the book. I think it is worth the few hours it takes to read.

12 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Maybe these zealots deserve a chance, March 14, 2003

By 

Michael Oppenheim (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Compassionate Conservatism: What It Is, What It Does, and How It Can Transform America (Hardcover)

Compassionate conservatism is not a platitude but a distinct social program. It aims to help the poor without compromising conservative principles  very conservative principles, very religious conservative principles. Marvin Olasky, one of its spokesman and advisor to George Bush when he was governor of Texas, has written an overview for the general reader. Actually, its for the general conservative reader, but liberals should take note.

Much of the book is a collection of essays recounting the authors visits to various antipoverty programs across the country, mostly privately run. The traditional programs (run by churches and charities) provide counseling, education, job training, and placement  the usual mix. The dropout rate is substantial, and most of those who graduate and get a job fail and return to poverty. I cant quarrel with this result. But only a minority of alcoholics, drug addicts, and the obese succeed in solving their problems, too. These are tough problems.. Its with greater pleasure that he relates encounters with compassionate conservatism antipoverty programs all privately run, generally by born-again Christians and their churches. These offer the same benefits plus a heavy dose of moral uplift, discipline, and abstinence. Anyone can enter, but once in the program they must toe the line. Use of alcohol and drugs means instant expulsion; so does irresponsibility, poor attendance, and laziness. There are no second chances.

So far none of this is objectionable or even particularly conservative. However, the author adds one feature he considers essential: religion. The programs he admires stress an aggressive, proselytizing, strictly moralistic fundamentalism. Many otherwise commendable leaders become unpleasantly self-righteous on the subject of God.

Because the government refuses to fund sectarian charities, they look upon bureaucrats with the contempt they reserve for the ACLU and Planned Parenthood. Olasky approves and quotes them at length. He also maintains that graduates of these programs do better. I havent the expertise to dispute this, and it seems reasonable that a despairing member of the underclass who accepts Jesus will become a more solid citizen. It works with alcoholics.

Nonfundamentalists will find this book irritating because the author makes no attempt to win them over. Yet wouldnt it be wonderful if Republicans took a genuine interest in fighting poverty? Democrats arent giving it more than lip service. Americans today dont place a high priority on correcting social injustice. They would oppose any Federal effort that involves spending tax money. As a result, the only political movement making a big noise about helping the poor are the compassionate conservatives. Why not give them a chance?

Thoughtful readers should hold their noses and persist to the end.