What do you think?
Rate this book
Hard America, Soft America: Competition vs. Coddling and the Battle for the Nation's Future
A peculiar feature of our country today, says Michael Barone, is that we seem to produce incompetent eighteen-year-olds but remarkably competent thirty-year-olds. Indeed, American students lag behind their peers in other nations, but America remains on the leading edge economically, scientifically, technologically, and militarily.
The reason for this paradox, explains Barone in this brilliant essay, is that “from ages six to eighteen Americans live mostly in what I call Soft America—the parts of our country where there is little competition and accountability. But from ages eighteen to thirty Americans live mostly in Hard America—the parts of American life subject to competition and accountability.” While Soft America coddles, Hard America plays for keeps.
Educators, for example, protect children from the rigors of testing, ban dodgeball, and promote just about any student who shows up. But most adults quickly figure out that how they do depends on what they produce.
Barone sweeps readers along, showing how we came to the current divide—for things weren’t always this way. In fact, no part of our society is all Hard or all Soft, and the boundary between Hard America and Soft America often moves back and forth. Barone also shows where America is headed—or should be headed. We don’t want to subject kindergartners to the rigors of the Marine Corps or leave old people uncared for. But Soft America lives off the productivity, creativity, and competence of Hard America, and we have the luxury of keeping part of our society Soft only if we keep most of it Hard.
Hard America, Soft America
• How the American situation is In Europe, schooling is competitive and demanding, but adult life is Soft, with generous welfare benefits, short work hours, long vacations, and state pensions
• How the American military has reclaimed the Hard goals and programs it abandoned in the Vietnam era
• How Hardness drives America’s economy—an economy that businesses and economists nearly destroyed in the 1970s by spurning competition
• How America’s schools have failed because they are bastions of Softness—but how they are finally showing signs of Hardening
• The benefits of How government programs like Social Security were necessary in what was a harsh and unforgiving America
• Hard America, Soft America is a stunningly original and provocative work of social commentary from one of this country’s most respected political analysts.
The reason for this paradox, explains Barone in this brilliant essay, is that “from ages six to eighteen Americans live mostly in what I call Soft America—the parts of our country where there is little competition and accountability. But from ages eighteen to thirty Americans live mostly in Hard America—the parts of American life subject to competition and accountability.” While Soft America coddles, Hard America plays for keeps.
Educators, for example, protect children from the rigors of testing, ban dodgeball, and promote just about any student who shows up. But most adults quickly figure out that how they do depends on what they produce.
Barone sweeps readers along, showing how we came to the current divide—for things weren’t always this way. In fact, no part of our society is all Hard or all Soft, and the boundary between Hard America and Soft America often moves back and forth. Barone also shows where America is headed—or should be headed. We don’t want to subject kindergartners to the rigors of the Marine Corps or leave old people uncared for. But Soft America lives off the productivity, creativity, and competence of Hard America, and we have the luxury of keeping part of our society Soft only if we keep most of it Hard.
Hard America, Soft America
• How the American situation is In Europe, schooling is competitive and demanding, but adult life is Soft, with generous welfare benefits, short work hours, long vacations, and state pensions
• How the American military has reclaimed the Hard goals and programs it abandoned in the Vietnam era
• How Hardness drives America’s economy—an economy that businesses and economists nearly destroyed in the 1970s by spurning competition
• How America’s schools have failed because they are bastions of Softness—but how they are finally showing signs of Hardening
• The benefits of How government programs like Social Security were necessary in what was a harsh and unforgiving America
• Hard America, Soft America is a stunningly original and provocative work of social commentary from one of this country’s most respected political analysts.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2004
8 people are currently reading
141 people want to read
About the author
Michael Barone
52 books16 followersMichael Barone, a political analyst and journalist, studies politics, American government, and campaigns and elections. The principal coauthor of the annual Almanac of American Politics (National Journal Group), he has written many books on American politics and history. Barone is also a senior political analyst for the Washington Examiner. Barone has also written for many major market publications, including The Economist, The New York Times, The Detroit Press, American Enterprise and The Daily Telegraph of London.
He graduated from Harvard University in 1966 and Yale Law School in 1969.
He graduated from Harvard University in 1966 and Yale Law School in 1969.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
September 10, 2016
The cultural elite affect the hardening and softening in America because they feel the ordinary people who don’t achieve certain level of success need soft protection. They add programs to facilitate what changes they think will make America more balanced; this is done usually by, politicians, economists, and executives.
The hardening trend that Barone describes took place during the 1980’s and 1990’s affected multiple areas like crime the welfare system and school system. There was a crack cocaine epidemic in the 1980’s and 1990’s. The rate imprisonment and the population increased substantially. Also the length of sentences increased. Large cities were dominated by liberals, these cities also tended to have the highest crime rate. Mayor Rudy Giuliani made changes in the system to make police more responsible. TO fix this broken system, there were established quotas for crime and disorderly behavior. Precincts’ that failed to achieve these set goals would lose their jobs. After five years the number of major crimes was reduced by half and murders by two thirds.
In the welfare system and Moynihan noticed that nearly one forth of births from black women were illegitimate. General Thompson of Wisconsin reduced welfare by 90%. He maximized jobs for welfare beneficiaries. Improvements became noticeable for the people who were once was dependant on the system. These people began to earn more money and have a better standard of life. Other officials caught on to the improvement. With the new reform the previous welfare recipients began to adapt and become independent. These people were now actively providing for themselves and dependents. A soft zone in America was made hard and people were now better off.
Within the schools Mr. Samuels was afraid at the threat of mediocrity inside the schools. Attention was finally directed and the public began to understand the seriousness of the issue. A nation at risk was published. Academic requirements were abandoned and students took more electives. Absenteeism increased and homework was diminishing. Educators were more concerned with students self esteem instead of the education goals. Basically expectations were lowered while the enrollment continued to rise.
The U.S military has hardened between Vietnam War and the 2003 Iraq war after the draft was abolished. First the standard to be recruited into the miliarty was raised. A zero drug tolerance policy was instituted. This policy raised the standards and ended up producing better soldiers. The military has started to offer more benefits, not only to young men but women too. Young men and women began to see the appeal and recruitment quotas began to be met. One thing that may have made the choice of enlistment so appealing is the military provided decent pay. Another appealing factor for new recruits is a sign on bonus. One of the main appealing factors for new recruits I speculate is the G.I bill which helps with college tuition repayment. The slogan has now become “be all you can be” recruiting goals were met and victory was achieved a low rate of loss of troops lives. The raising of the standards and benefits made an overall improvement and hardened the military.
The softening and hardening in America was shaped by the liberal, educated and the cultural elite. Usually it is the liberal segment of society that pressures for soft America. History has shown that these people become dependent on the programs. The majority of the time people are helped or protected by the government, then they come to expect it adapt to this standard of protection. People end up losing their independence. Dependency fosters this cycle to continue until the system can no longer afford this luxury.
Hard success is visible in young American. Young Americans are becoming inherent with participating in group projects and after school jobs. These same students continue to go to college and the military or private sector. Young people nowadays are career minded. There also has been a small decline in the divorce rate. I think that what may also contribute to this but was unmentioned by Barone is the fact the marriage rate is decreasing. The parental involvement of mothers has increased. After the welfare laws were adjusted it was noticeable that the percentage of black children were living with two parents had shifted upwards. Now more mothers of small children are remaining at home rather than taking jobs. What happens as a result of this is that these children do better than the other children who were put into daycare.
I can see the correlation with talent pushing towards softness and genius pushing us toward hardness. With competition and accountability (hardness) the best in people tends to be brought out. Sometimes this hardness can be too harsh but it does have a place in society. This concept is not new, but Barone goes into it with more detail in this book.
The hardening trend that Barone describes took place during the 1980’s and 1990’s affected multiple areas like crime the welfare system and school system. There was a crack cocaine epidemic in the 1980’s and 1990’s. The rate imprisonment and the population increased substantially. Also the length of sentences increased. Large cities were dominated by liberals, these cities also tended to have the highest crime rate. Mayor Rudy Giuliani made changes in the system to make police more responsible. TO fix this broken system, there were established quotas for crime and disorderly behavior. Precincts’ that failed to achieve these set goals would lose their jobs. After five years the number of major crimes was reduced by half and murders by two thirds.
In the welfare system and Moynihan noticed that nearly one forth of births from black women were illegitimate. General Thompson of Wisconsin reduced welfare by 90%. He maximized jobs for welfare beneficiaries. Improvements became noticeable for the people who were once was dependant on the system. These people began to earn more money and have a better standard of life. Other officials caught on to the improvement. With the new reform the previous welfare recipients began to adapt and become independent. These people were now actively providing for themselves and dependents. A soft zone in America was made hard and people were now better off.
Within the schools Mr. Samuels was afraid at the threat of mediocrity inside the schools. Attention was finally directed and the public began to understand the seriousness of the issue. A nation at risk was published. Academic requirements were abandoned and students took more electives. Absenteeism increased and homework was diminishing. Educators were more concerned with students self esteem instead of the education goals. Basically expectations were lowered while the enrollment continued to rise.
The U.S military has hardened between Vietnam War and the 2003 Iraq war after the draft was abolished. First the standard to be recruited into the miliarty was raised. A zero drug tolerance policy was instituted. This policy raised the standards and ended up producing better soldiers. The military has started to offer more benefits, not only to young men but women too. Young men and women began to see the appeal and recruitment quotas began to be met. One thing that may have made the choice of enlistment so appealing is the military provided decent pay. Another appealing factor for new recruits is a sign on bonus. One of the main appealing factors for new recruits I speculate is the G.I bill which helps with college tuition repayment. The slogan has now become “be all you can be” recruiting goals were met and victory was achieved a low rate of loss of troops lives. The raising of the standards and benefits made an overall improvement and hardened the military.
The softening and hardening in America was shaped by the liberal, educated and the cultural elite. Usually it is the liberal segment of society that pressures for soft America. History has shown that these people become dependent on the programs. The majority of the time people are helped or protected by the government, then they come to expect it adapt to this standard of protection. People end up losing their independence. Dependency fosters this cycle to continue until the system can no longer afford this luxury.
Hard success is visible in young American. Young Americans are becoming inherent with participating in group projects and after school jobs. These same students continue to go to college and the military or private sector. Young people nowadays are career minded. There also has been a small decline in the divorce rate. I think that what may also contribute to this but was unmentioned by Barone is the fact the marriage rate is decreasing. The parental involvement of mothers has increased. After the welfare laws were adjusted it was noticeable that the percentage of black children were living with two parents had shifted upwards. Now more mothers of small children are remaining at home rather than taking jobs. What happens as a result of this is that these children do better than the other children who were put into daycare.
I can see the correlation with talent pushing towards softness and genius pushing us toward hardness. With competition and accountability (hardness) the best in people tends to be brought out. Sometimes this hardness can be too harsh but it does have a place in society. This concept is not new, but Barone goes into it with more detail in this book.
August 13, 2019
One of my reading goals this year was to read my first political commentary/essay, and this book, which I picked up at work last year, caught my eye. After starting it I realized it was 15 years old so some of it was irrelevant, but I kept reading anyways. Barone wrote about the contrast between what he called Hard America and Soft America. Soft America is a work environment where rigor and cutthroat competition are surpressed in favor of coddling whereas Hard America is a work environment where one has to work hard and competitively to achieve. Barone shared his insights through extensive research on how these two contrasting environments that exist in America effect our culture and have effected history. I found his insights were still overall spot-on despite the book not being current. His context was an America just beginning the war on terror and having just united around 9/11, so it was interesting to think how his perspective and opinions relate to today's context with so much that has happened in 15 years. His main point remains true and remains a cause for concern: children and teenagers in our school systems are raised in a "Soft" America, since our schools and many parents coddle and eliminate rigor from the curriculum. Then students graduate and, once they enter the working world, are expected to thrive in "Hard" America, since the working world in America is chock full of rigor, cutthroat competition, and high expectations. As a former school teacher who struggled with administrative pressures expecting me to pass every student, regardless of how hard they worked, I found his insights in this American phenomenon very relevant to today's schools. Many students don't have high expectations for themselves because that is what they are taught as they move easily through the school system. Barone has some key historical insights into why this is so and also examines why the private sector, the military, and other American economic environments fall into the "Hard" America category. He examines the history and evolution of these various sectors and draws conclusions on what is right and what needs fixing. Although some of his thoughts were outdated and probably would be different coming from him in today's world, I agreed with the majority of his relevant points. He did a decent job conveying his points and I appreciated learning the history behind all of these sectors. I would give this book 3.5 stars, grading slightly down for being out of date and merely out of my preference (I did struggle getting through it, but that might just be me and not the book itself).
June 13, 2020
It's an interesting, not too dry look at 20th century American society. Barone keeps it at a high level, not telling personal stories in order to extrapolate broad points. He does offer illustrations to show the larger picture, and each chapter ties together neatly, but the most interesting thing about this book is the seeing the many unintended consequences of the acts of political and industry leaders. Sometimes those unintended consequences saved us from what would have been very bad intended results, but just as often we see downsides to decisions that looked right at the time.
More on my blog, http://brandywinebooks.net/?p=13835
More on my blog, http://brandywinebooks.net/?p=13835
July 4, 2024
Stack 2, Book 1
Some fascinating historical perspective, which garnered the third star, and the beginnings of the non-compassionate republican agenda are discussed in several essays by the author.
Unfortunately it did not go into detail of the origins of the non-compassionate republican agenda which I would have found very interesting.
All of the chapters start with the mention of a book, or books, Barone uses to get into the topic of that particular essay.
Published 20 years ago it would be interesting to see what, if any, changes in philosophy the author might have today.
Some fascinating historical perspective, which garnered the third star, and the beginnings of the non-compassionate republican agenda are discussed in several essays by the author.
Unfortunately it did not go into detail of the origins of the non-compassionate republican agenda which I would have found very interesting.
All of the chapters start with the mention of a book, or books, Barone uses to get into the topic of that particular essay.
Published 20 years ago it would be interesting to see what, if any, changes in philosophy the author might have today.
October 2, 2017
This books talks about the various parts of society influenced by hard and soft influences in America.
March 25, 2018
Lots of alarms, but very little concrete ideas.
November 21, 2014
Barone begins the book by contrasting the number of incompetent 18 year-old Americans with the number of remarkably competent 30 year-olds. Why do such shallow adolescents become such productive citizens? The answer lies in the hard reality of the American economy that insists that we get tough. That reality argues Barone makes us the most productive nation in the world.
But why are they so incompetent at 18? Because the education system in this country caters to whims, social experiments and self-esteem, but it doesn't force teenagers to confront the hardness of the real world. It's not until these kids reach the workforce that they are compelled to be serious.
In Europe it's almost the opposite. Their schools are tough and their children outperform ours, but those kids are dumped into a welfare state economy that coddles them the rest of their lives. Very few 30 years-old Europeans can compete with their American contemporaries.
American kids that do work harder when they are younger wind up in the most elite colleges. The irony is that they don't always appreciate how the hard road prepared them for greater success. Many of the ones that enter public service push for a softer America in the form of welfare, unemployment and government regulations.
Barone traces the two Americas back to World War II when big government teamed up with big labor and big business to run the war machine. Those economies of scale were supposed to make America soft yet productive. It looked efficient and we certainly won the war, but that model showed its flaws the in later years.
By the 1970s, auto manufacturers for instance were paying higher and higher union wages and American cars began to be overpriced compared to the new Japanese imports. It led to a crisis of what fashionable economic planners thought about production. All three of the big automakers were on the brink of collapse at one point or the other. They had been afraid to innovate suddenly they were forced to.
In addition, half of the top 100 industrial firms in 1974 were bankrupt or bought out by 2000 and yet the U.S. economy grew because hard realities were back. European economies, on the other hand, haven't grown that much in the last 20 years. Even economies like Japan that once scared us terribly failed to unseat us as the economic leaders.
These are just a few of the examples that Barones cites. And Barone does concede that America has been better off for certain kinds of softness, and many people who promote softness do it for the best of reasons. But Americans are better served with a steady dose of hardness.
But why are they so incompetent at 18? Because the education system in this country caters to whims, social experiments and self-esteem, but it doesn't force teenagers to confront the hardness of the real world. It's not until these kids reach the workforce that they are compelled to be serious.
In Europe it's almost the opposite. Their schools are tough and their children outperform ours, but those kids are dumped into a welfare state economy that coddles them the rest of their lives. Very few 30 years-old Europeans can compete with their American contemporaries.
American kids that do work harder when they are younger wind up in the most elite colleges. The irony is that they don't always appreciate how the hard road prepared them for greater success. Many of the ones that enter public service push for a softer America in the form of welfare, unemployment and government regulations.
Barone traces the two Americas back to World War II when big government teamed up with big labor and big business to run the war machine. Those economies of scale were supposed to make America soft yet productive. It looked efficient and we certainly won the war, but that model showed its flaws the in later years.
By the 1970s, auto manufacturers for instance were paying higher and higher union wages and American cars began to be overpriced compared to the new Japanese imports. It led to a crisis of what fashionable economic planners thought about production. All three of the big automakers were on the brink of collapse at one point or the other. They had been afraid to innovate suddenly they were forced to.
In addition, half of the top 100 industrial firms in 1974 were bankrupt or bought out by 2000 and yet the U.S. economy grew because hard realities were back. European economies, on the other hand, haven't grown that much in the last 20 years. Even economies like Japan that once scared us terribly failed to unseat us as the economic leaders.
These are just a few of the examples that Barones cites. And Barone does concede that America has been better off for certain kinds of softness, and many people who promote softness do it for the best of reasons. But Americans are better served with a steady dose of hardness.
August 3, 2011
Hard America is a combination of embracing the free market and promoting competition, accountability, a feedback loop, and incentives. All in all, Hard America is the sector of society which creates wealth, establishes new technology, and puts the hard worker on top.
Primary and Secondary Education is the section of society which Barone points out has persisted for the past century as a niche of Soft America. He levels blame in several locations, but most prominently towards the NEA (the largest teachers union).
The political power of teachers unions is pivotal in their strength to resist improvement. Barone touches on School Choice, but it appears that this is the best method of forcing the needed changes on America's school system (not a federal program like NCLB).
In Virginia Del. Chris Saxman is heading up School Choice Virginia: http://www.schoolchoiceva.com. We already know School Choice works from experiments in Milwaukee, D.C., and Florida. Conservatives who others who want to improve education should get on board.
Primary and Secondary Education is the section of society which Barone points out has persisted for the past century as a niche of Soft America. He levels blame in several locations, but most prominently towards the NEA (the largest teachers union).
The political power of teachers unions is pivotal in their strength to resist improvement. Barone touches on School Choice, but it appears that this is the best method of forcing the needed changes on America's school system (not a federal program like NCLB).
In Virginia Del. Chris Saxman is heading up School Choice Virginia: http://www.schoolchoiceva.com. We already know School Choice works from experiments in Milwaukee, D.C., and Florida. Conservatives who others who want to improve education should get on board.
May 15, 2021
[Imported automatically from my blog. Some formatting there may not have translated here.]
It's a shame that I didn't read this book when it was new, but better late than never. Subtitled "Competition vs. Coddling and the Battle for the Nation's Future", it sets up a neat dichotomy. On one hand we have the results-oriented, sharp-eyed, fast-moving "Hard"; on the other, we have the touchy-feely, sentimental, compassionate, it's-all-good "Soft". Mr. Barone ranges wide on this topic, showing how it explains things in diverse areas like finance, education, welfare, and military policy. Barone isn't without sympathy for "Soft America" but he's clear that most of the activity that makes the US healthy, wealthy, and wise is on the Hard side.
The book is relatively short and easy to read, and ages well. Although it was written after the start of the Iraq invasion, and before the 2004 elections, most of the examples still ring true.
March 20, 2012
Michael Barone is incisive and specific in his assessment of the nature of competition and meritocracy in America. Although it is convenient to forget, our children are competing for position in the entire world's economy against children from other nations where they have nothing to lose. Although something will be lost by the sort of rote memorization which squelches the creativity of the Asian youth, increased rigor and accountability in our own educational system, starting with the system and the educators will better prepare our youth for their role as the adults of tomorrow. How many losers do you know with a college degree who are living in their parent's basement? We have ourselves to blame. Demand more from our children and their educators and be amazed as they rise to meet those expectations.
September 25, 2016
This was a pretty good book detailing the difference between training up children and adults in "hard" or "soft" environments and how America has waffled between emphasizing one environment or another over the past century. Barone spent more time criticizing softness than hardness, and I don't think it's altogether warranted, as an appropriate balance is necessary, but given how much our culture leans toward excessive softness in different areas, perhaps it's necessary to combat wrong positions first. Either way, while I may not agree 100% with how much Barone emphasizes hardness, this book provided some helpful paradigms to interpret history through and taught me a good bit.
Rating: 3.5-4 Stars (Good).
Rating: 3.5-4 Stars (Good).
Read
April 2, 2015Absolutely brilliant book. It gave a bit of history on every page and I felt like I learned a lot from this book. It was about how America could be more competitive (harder) in certain subjects and how it could easier for people (softer) in other places. When I didn't know something, I'd ask my dad about it and I'd always get a full explanation on it. Overall, I think this book is for the people who want to have a lil fun reading AND learn at the same time.
October 5, 2016
Barone generally avoided the usual "small gov't and free market > everything else" spiel, which was nice and unexpected. Instead, the reader is given a great look into how we can improve many aspects of our society - whether the government is large or small - by finding incentives that will actually motivate and reward continual innovation and improvement, rather than mundane activities that foster individual complacency and organizational stagnation.
Read
December 11, 2010Excellent, but dated, book comparing the US educational system with other countries. Showing why competitive juices are stimulated by the very difficult job market faced when students transition from the academic world.
It is dated, because of the further deterioration of our educational system, and the europeanization of our jobs market and the expansion of the government sector.
It is dated, because of the further deterioration of our educational system, and the europeanization of our jobs market and the expansion of the government sector.
April 9, 2013
A very thought-provoking book for a liberal who is still undecided about the overall benefits of 'soft' vs. 'hard' policies. It was a little dry with excessive historic examples, but the overall premise was interesting. I enjoy books that challenge my belief system. Definitely some biased examples and straw-man arguments, but a few of them were convincing.
Read
December 17, 2015“Hard American, Soft America” by Michael Barone brings interesting insights into American society in the past up until the present. Hard and Soft always complements each other even though he asserts that Hardening makes the country better off.
July 25, 2011
Outstanding book. If you read one book that helps to explain the difference in philosophies and world outlooks between President Obama supporters and those opposed to him, this is it!
January 10, 2010
The idea in it is worth an essay ...maybe 30 pages that he expanded to make a book.
April 5, 2018
Very well written, accessible prose. Highly recommended.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews