De-Valuing Of America: The Fight For Our Culture And Our Children

Rating:
Summary: Nice effort, but better works out there
Review: Bennett's The De-Valuing of America is an admirable attempt to illustrate the decline of standards in late 20th century culture and education. Although I have a high level of respect for Bennett's principles, there is a vast array of better works out there illustrating the same issues.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent book that should be read by every young American!!
Review: Bill Bennett, former NEH Chairman, Secretary of Education, and Drug Czar takes on many important cultural issues. He writes with passion and great credibility, for example while Secretary of Education, Bennett not only visited but TAUGHT in over 100 schools around the country. His account of the woeful state of public education in America is particularly compelling- a chilling indictment of liberal social policy run amuck!

Rating:
Summary: Phsyician and parent
Review: Like most politicians, Bill Bennett seems to like himself a bit too much. And as you might expect, the book reads a little like a closing argument in an anti-trust case. But if you are able to ignore the oppressively partisan slant, it does make for a decent read.

As I spend spare time exposing televangelists, my favorite quote was: "the national conversation on values, public morality, and the proper role of religion in public life was hurt 'when those who protest the loudest fail to live up to morality in their own lives'." [p. 219] And, by the grace of God, he never mentioned Newt Gingrich.... :)

Rating:
Summary: Highly disappointing read
Review: Mr. Bennett shows a sad, vindictive streak in this book, which I had not expected from him. He acts as if the whole point of politics is to win debates, using whatever vitriol necessary to score points, with no regard for civility or morality. It is nice to see that for all his liberal-bashing in this text, he found better ground in the future, for in his book on virtues he explicitly makes the point that good, moral people can be liberals or conservatives. If you can ignore the rampant hatred, he makes some decent points. The section on drug policy is a great read, much nicer than his assault on teacher unions when he supposedly is writing about education. I wouldn't really recommend this book to anyone, though it has some positive features. There are more open-minded and insightful political writers out there, like Michael Lind, Richard John Neuhaus or Jim Wallis. Let's not confine ourselves to the angry complaints of a bureacrat like Bennett.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent book; for teachers, for parents, for teens
Review: This book is absolutely one of the best contemporary conservative reads. Dr. Bennett's explanation of his doings as Education secretary are wonderful and inspiring. I particularily enjoyed his look at K-12 education and the need for evolution from the current education policy standstill. The one knock I will give the book is its lack of depth on the issue od drugs. Generally, I am solidly behind Dr. Bennett on the drug issue, and I have supported him for some time. However, the complexity of the "drug war" in the '80s and early '90s led by him needs to be far better examined, explained and explored. I suppose that issue- from Bennett's perspective- could consume more than one entire book of Kissingeresque size, but I still would've like to have seen a more thorough debriefing of Bennett's experiences in this volume. All in all, I HIGHLY recommend this book to everyone. I it is a *MUST READ* for contemporary conservatives.

Rating:
Summary: Phsyician and parent
Review: This is a great book. All parents and teachers should read it. Our country needs more people like Bennett. The book accurately discusses current issues in American schools and drug problems in America. I was educated at Princeton and Yale and am now a practicing physician. It is true what Bennett and Bork have said about the harmful effect of unrealistic liberals at prestigious institutions have corrupted American values and have contributed to the decline of American academic and moral standards. This book will help you to sort through the problems faced by someone trying to make sure that their children get a good education in the United States and to avoid the pitfalls of drug abuse and irresponsible behavior.