From Publishers Weekly
Stone, a research professor and author (Policy Paradox: The Art of Political Decision-Making), takes a critical look at America's shifting attitudes toward public policy over the past thirty years, during which "economists, social scientists, conservatives, and free-market ideologues have had us believing that self-interest makes the world go 'round." Her aim, to "reunite politics with doing good," challenges "the new conventional wisdom: 'Help is harmful.'" She covers well-known objections to the welfare state in her second chapter, including the ideas that help makes people dependant, entitlements undermine good citizenship, and that "markets are better helpers than government." Citing surveys, anecdotes and the work of volunteer organizations and charities, Stone pushes back against the modern myth of American self-reliance and its guiding thesis, Ayn Rand's idea that "the only rational ethical principle for human relationships... is free-market trade." Illustrating that most average Americans are not innately greedy, but rather willing partners in community action, Stone finds America's true spirit in "everyday altruism." She makes the argument that the real "moral hazard" we face, as individuals and as a nation, is not coddling the poor, but walking away from those in need.
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Review
Francine Prose, "Oprah Magazine""Quite frankly, I've never understood why it might be a bad idea to feed the hungry, heal the sick, and help the poor. But the next time I find myself in an argument with someone who believes that welfare and public education are ruining our society, and that universal health insurance will destroy our medical system, I will be very glad to have read (and to be able to quote) Deborah Stone's "The Samaritan's Dilemma," Beginning with the disturbing observation that most Americans' feelings about politics have become almost entirely divorced from their notions of kindness and obligation toward those in need, Stone's calm, logical, and immensely reassuring book dismantles the standard arguments against a more caring society ("Help makes people dependent") and persuades us that acts of charity and social responsibility actually make us stronger as individuals and better citizens of a democracy. She looks at examples of "everyday altruism"--from Meals on Wheels to family caregiving--and at the ways in which, over the last decades, our government has actively discouraged Americans from acting on their better impulses. Finishing "The Samaritan's Dilemma," you not only want to give the book to your neighbors and send it to your congressional representatives but may find yourself wishing that, when the time comes for our next president to assemble a cabinet, Deborah Stone could be appointed our first Secretary of Compassion."
