Customer Reviews

It Takes a Family: Conservatism and the Common Good

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(26)

 

 

There are two truths I want to point out in regards to this book. The first, if you're conservative you'll love it, if you're liberal, you'll hate it.

If you're in between, please disregard many of the one star rating and the oversimplified reviews that believe Rick Santorum to sexist, etc. His basic premise is this: the ideal family consists of a loving mother and father, and the government should do what it can to support that.

Those who somehow read that Santorum wants all women in the home and not working have not read this book. The chapter they often misquote from actually argues that somewhere along the line our country stopped valuing the women who choose to stay home. He does not attack women who work outside of the home, only rightly glorifies those who are able, and do make the choice to be with their children.

Yes, he is well known as a social conservative. He's taken a few "arrows in the back" because of that, especially for being from the great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, a very purplish-blue state. If you don't like conservatism and are as hateful as many of the people who have "reviewed" the book, then either don't read it and don't comment on it, or read it and then make an intelligent and factually-based opinion. For those believing in the conservative movement, consider this a manifesto on what it means to be conservative. Read it. Reread it. See how this man has made the country better, especially through his fight to reform welfare in the nineties.

If you happen to be somewhere in the middle. Maybe economically conservative and socially liberal. Or just unsure of what you really believe is best for this country. Ignore the hateful comments made before me. Ignore what I've written. Read it yourself and decide.

I was skeptical once I decided to read this book whether a political twist would overtake everything he had to say. Often times it did, but he was pretty good in most cases with providing substantial evidence for his arguments. And I have to say that as I read on, it went from meh... to pretty good... to this is a great book that I hope everyone who wants the best for their kids and family will read! I especially agree with his perspectives on family responsibility, morals, and education. There is a noticeable degradation in society through what Senator Santorum calls "No-Fault Freedom". Anyone who refuses to notice this is kidding themselves out of selfish motives and desires.

While it does pick on Hillary Clinton quite often, he makes GREAT counter-arguments for so many fundamental concerns of society and government. He addresses purpose of humanity and purpose of government. And it makes sense. He provides great substance for those that are compassionate conservatives and those that are not to stand up for objective truth and moral goodness. I challenge any naysayers to soundoff in reply to my review on any topics you disagree with and why. What makes this great, is that fact that the book encourages this, as we all should, and also provides explanation as to how and why and in what regard we all share a common desire/goal for good in society. How we view getting to that common thread is different in many cases, however, and examination of these differences with discussion can hopefully provide a common resolve beneficial to society in the most effective and efficient manner. I for one am glad to have someone with such a drive for moral responsibility representing the people... the people who are so often collectively suppressed by the liberal movement for no. good. or substantial. reason.

Thank you Senator Santorum for summarizing all these family issues together in a context that can be relevant to all. I salute your integrity and efforts.

This is definitely a very interesting book. If you're a conservative, this book definitely helps articulate the importance of family and why gov't should support it. It's very thoughtfully written, which shows because the only quote liberals have used to attack is one about women working out of the home. Don't believe any such lies, Santorum does not attack women who work out of the home, he makes the case that if they can, it may be better to stay with children. It's a personal choice that each family has to make and he respects that. A great read on social conservatism and it's importance, I would definitely encourage anyone to read this book.

An outstanding book written from the heart.An easy read with much insight into how

our government trespasses into the upbringing of our children.Rick Santorum has the

common sense to lead our country in the right direction for the common good.

A century ago, Theodore Roosevelt said, "It is in the life of the family, upon which in the last analysis the whole welfare of the nation rests....The nation is nothing but the aggregate of the families within its borders." Santorum, has expanded upon TR's sage wisdom in his book, It Takes a Family. Obviously, the title of this book has positioned it as a direct response to It Takes a Village the Big Government playbook by Senator Hillary Clinton.

It Takes a Family is a wide-ranging, thoughtful examination of the American social, moral, and intellectual landscape. Santorum's basic thesis is that the liberal/libertarian vision for America of "No-Fault freedom" is resulting in the squandering of our heritage of social, moral, cultural, and intellectual capital. Yet, Santorum's book is not simply a laundry list of liberal ideological and policy failures. Indeed, in an effort to be fair-minded, Santorum goes out of his way to call out some of the more liberal members of the Senate who have helped craft truly effective legislation. The book is one of those rare works that goes beyond naked partisan criticism to propose constructive and creative solutions to present and looming dilemmas.

Santorum's work also serves as an effective apologia for the cultural conservative political agenda. Too often, Republicans are seen as little more than "cheap Democrats." No one can accuse Senator Santorum of being part of that caucus. While he very clearly does not believe in Big Government as the solution to every problem, he recognizes that the federal and state governments can help by encouraging objectively good behavior and citizenship and discouraging destructive behavior. He is a firm proponent of the Catholic principle of subsidiarity-the philosophy of social policy that says that the fulfillment of human needs should be accomplished at the lowest possible level, and that state and federal level should assume such responsibility only as a last resort. This completely turns on its head the neo-Marxist philosophy of Big Government as the solution to every problem, no matter how small, and yet is not the anarcho-libertarian ideal of the best government is no government at all. Thus, Santorum believes that the majority of social issues plaguing the United States begin and may be solved at the most basic community level: the family.

As expected, the most effective section of Santorum's book is that which deals with the grave moral evil of abortion. Santorum's passion and unambiguous pro-life position comes through in his compelling description of his role as floor leader during the partial-birth abortion debates in the US Senate over the past 10 years. His recounting of his wife's own miscarriage and the effect the debates had on one young couple in particular-who decided not to abort their baby after watching on C-SPAN-were enough to bring tears to the eyes.

I found the chapter entitled the Rule of Judges to be similarly effective, providing a concise history of how federal and state judges have gradually usurped the role of the elected legislative branches to eliminate laws that have been in place for hundreds of years and create and impose new "rights" out of thin air. This chapter should be required reading for every American who is concerned about the extra-constitutional role the federal courts have assumed over the past 40 years which have allowed pornography, abortion, and sodomy to become civil rights while all but banishing God from the public square-all without a single vote on these issues ever being cast by the people or their elected representatives.

Rick Santorum is perhaps unique among the Senate for his passion, creativity, and devotion to the traditional ideals which have helped Western civilization, and America in particular, develop and flourish. Few of the bloviators and self-important gas-bags currently inhabiting that august body could have produced a book of this depth and clarity. That said, it is his very passion, clarity of vision, and his interest in lifting up traditional Democratic constituencies (union workers, underserved minority groups, low income families, African-Americans, etc.) that have made Santorum Public Enemy #1 to the hard left. Both Hillary Clinton and Barbara Boxer have been made to look foolish and extremist in debates against Santorum on the floor of the Senate and national left-wing groups will be pouring unprecedented amounts of money into the 2006 campaign to defeat him. Having read It Takes a Family, I firmly believe that if every family in Pennsylvania read this book, Santorum would be re-elected in a land-slide.

This book does not seem to have a target audience. You will like this book if you already agree with Rick Santorum. However, if you already agree with him, his book is not really accomplishing anything. If you are moderate, you will probably be too put off by some of his statements to be able to sift through the book and find the reasonable ideas. If you are liberal, you will probably throw the book across the room. Santorum basically insults and demeans people who do not agree with him, so if you are going into this book trying to get the other perspective, you will probably just be insulted.

"it takes a family" is very hard to put down. senator rick santorum and current president candidate shows how the the family is being threatened and what can be done to defend it and shows how it is one of the things that holds this country together. this is truly a great book and has some great common since solutions to awnser the many questians that trouble our country. also recamended everyday graces by karen santorum and letters to gabriel by karen santorum

I was really excited to read Senator Santorum's book. I knew he was going to explain how I didn't need to work, we could raise our family with only one income - and I found where he said that.

But I thought he would give concrete, how-to examples, like how he bought a house in a low income district that he never lived in with his family so his kids could get an education in a great school district and he could avoid paying property taxes. That a budget tip I could use!

My husband and I would also like to avoid paying taxes we owe but we can't aford two houses to do it.

So, I was disappointed.

Rick does an excellent job detailing a true social conservative philosophy from many angles, and drives home the point that many of the tough economic and societal problems we face today can be alleviated by the restoration of the family/and the espousal of rational moral values. Rick's writing is articulate, intelligent, sensitive, and down to earth. I highly recommend his book---even if you don't agree with him on everything, his perspective will provide a springboard for a thoughtful, honest, discourse and debate.

As per Rick Santorum, "Throughout this book, ...I will be discussing different types of 'captial' and how family breakdown - out-of-wedlock births, divorce, cohabitation, and absentee parenthood - has depleted that capital in recent decades. For it sometimes happens that the patrimony we inherit has not been well cared for by the immediately previous generation....The village elders don't seem to understand that a stable marriage is the greatest protection for children and the most powerful energizer of their success....Ten years after a marriage breaks up, research has shown that approximately two-thirds of children report that they haven't seen their father for over a year....Marriage matters because children matter....The conservative solution to the problems of low-income America, is to structure all our programs around the family, to work with the family rather than against it....In developing my understanding of social policy, I have learned a lot from the tradition of Catholic social thought. In that tradition, there is an important concept called subsidiarity, the principal that all social challenges should be addressed at the level of the smallest social unit possible, preferably the family" (pp. 9 - 68).