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33 of 46 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Some Concrete Steps to Halt the Growing Epidemic, December 14, 1999
This is a very quick read and presents a thorough overview of a disturbing problem. I finished it in less than 24 hours. Mike Huckabee was governor of Arkansas when the tragic schoolyard shooting took place in Joneboro. In the heat of such an unforeseeable horror, many voices offered soundbite explanations as to what could possibly have cause such nightmare-stretching pogrom. Unfortunately, as the governor wisely points out, many of these diversely-intended know-it-alls look at one aspect of the problem but fail to dig deeply enough to reach it true roots. The books detailed hypotheses will not sit well with those who wish to utilize such a tragedy to call for strict gun control regulations. The authors (Dr. George Grant collaborated with the governor) wisely explore the current splenetic forces at work throughout American culture from the breakdown of the family to Hollywood's repeated celebration of gratuitous violence. In one especially harrowing chapter the reader enters a perverse video game and sees just how much hate and violence is being peddled at American children. If the book has one drawback is that it may be that it will be confined to preaching to the choir. Tumescent with quotes and references to support every idea propounded, the authors rely almost exclusively on conservative voices from William Bennett to Alan Keyes to Michael Medved. Few open-minded people could serious question the knowledge of these sources, but their pandemic citings and the under-representation of liberal mover and shakers (and there a few who advocate such common sense values) may turn off those who ideology blinds them to the sapience of conservatives. It's definitely worth a read and will serve as a useful tool to parents who must contend with a culture that is assiduously fighting them at every turn.
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30 of 44 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Shameful exploit of a series of tragic events, October 15, 1998
This is a very nasty book. Arkansas Governor, Mike Huckabee, cruelly exploits several tragic events to promote his personal agenda. He grabs our attention by quoting headlines from various school attacks and quickly shifts into an attack on homosexuals, feminists, unions, gun control legislation, non-Christian religions and anyone else that does not share his fundimentism views. The book is filled with fragments of quotes and statements from sources both real and mythical. While it contains a few gems of wisdom it consists mainly of derogatory ramblings condemning a majority the citizens of the United States of America.I read this book very carefully because I perceive it to be a resume to impress the extreme fundamentalists of the Christian Coalition and that I will soon see Mr. Huckabee's name in national politics probably seeking office as president of the United States of America.
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7 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Conservative Sermon Against Popular Culture And Governmental Intervention As Causes Of Crime, July 23, 2007
Mike Huckabee, the lead co-author of this book, was one of President Clinton's Republican successors as Governor of Arkansas on March 24,1998 when four little girls and a teacher were killed in the schoolyard of Westside Middle School in Jonesboro, Arkansas. 27 bullets were fired, and ten suffered non-fatal wounds. The two killers were boys at the school, ages 11 and 13.
The authors of this book document various other examples of kids killing kids,have an excellent chapter on the massive amounts of media violence children are exposed to, and write at length on the need for parents and society to educate our children on the kinds of values they should develop, and what the moral foundations of society should be. These chapters make the book valuable for anyone concerned about the problem of what kind of citizens today's children will be.
Reaction to other parts of this book depends on one's political and ideological views of the world. Those who are against teacher's unions will enjoy the scathing attacks on the National Education Association; those who are against abortion will cheer on the attacks on Planned Parenthood; those who have qualms about no-fault divorce will be impressed by the authors strong denunciations of it; those who worry about the expansion of government will be relieved that the authors see only personal solutions for fighting the epidemic of youth violence, and fear that greater governmental involvement will only make things worse.
The authors could have written a call for action on youth crime that would have appealed to concerned citizens regardless of ideology; they chose to write one appealing much more to conservatives than others. But no one can deny that conservatives are an important element in our national leadership, and that maximizing conservative attention to a serious national problem is a worthwhile strategic goal.
The authors' great strength lies both in their ability to write graceful prose and in their appreciation of the writings of others. They begin with a quote from Robert Penn Warren "All our debate is voiceless here, as all our rage, the rage of stone: if hope is hopeless, the fearless fear, and history is thus undone." They quote James Madison: "Liberty may be endangered by the abuses of liberty as well as the abuses of power."
They quote Samuel Johnson: "In political as well as natural disorders, the great error of those who commonly undertake either cure or preservation is that they rest in second causes, without extending their search to the remote and original sources of evil." They quote Richard Weaver: "The sin of egotism always takes the form of withdrawal. When personal advantage becomes paramount, the individual passes out of the community." They quote William J. Bennett: "The family is the original Department of Health, Educaiton, and Welfare." They quote Patrick Henry: "For good or for ill, the estate of the family will most assuredly predetermine the estate of all the rest of the culture."
While the authors have a great ear for aphorisms, they also call attention to experts and concerned citizens focused directly on their issues. Military historian Lt. Col. Dave Grossman discusses in detail the difficulty the military has in training soldiers to kill, and compares the military training of dehumanizing the enemy with some of the entertainment industry vehicles for dehumanizing other people. "The video industry conditions the young in exactly the same way the military does," he concludes. They also quote the Council on Scientific Affairs of the American Medical Association as warning that "Lyrics promoting durg and alchohol abuse, sexual exploitation, bigotry, and racism are combined with rhythms and intensities that appeal to youth. (They present) a real threat to the physical health and well-being of especially vulnerable children and adolescents."
The authors detail at length the differences in behavior of a week of television shows and the the behavior of the American people. The characters certainly do not meet the standards of prudence or morality or common sense that the vast majority of the American people apply to their own conduct the vast majority of the time. And the characters' rate of death or serious injury is also far higher than that of the average American. Those who take television characters as a guide to how they should behave themselves are clearly at risk, they conclude.
The authors shed valuable light on George Washington's teenage written statements on how one should behave with others. Young Washington's keen moral sense and thoughtful consideration of the duties and obligations that people owe each other clearly was part of the foundation laid for his extraordinary decades of important service to the people of Virginia and then to the people of the United States.
The authors conclude with thoughtful and well-considered praise of faith, family, and work as the keystones of individual responsible moral behavior.
This is not the book to read for detailed prescriptions as to what governments should do to fight crime, as the authors are highly doubtful that government has much of a useful role. This is a somewhat courageous position for Governor Huckabee to take, because "law and order" and governmental action to achieve it have long been national Republican themes.
But the authors have written a very good book to read for anyone who wants to understand the contexts in which crime exists, and in which advocates struggle both to safeguard the individual citizen and to escape the quicksands of partisan and ideological disputes. This book surveys conservative thought on both individual failings and virtues, and governmental failings and virtues.
They authors have not written the definitive word on youth violence in America, but they have penned an interesting and provocative introduction to diverse conservative perspectives on this urgent problem. Those who use this book as a springboard to further investigation of the problems discussed will certainly be well-armed in the struggles for less crime and more personal responsibility in American life.
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by Mike Huckabee
