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Reason to Believe
The democratic party's most eloquent statesman in a triumph of heart, mind, and voice delivers a vivid rebuke to the radical Republicans running riot in Washington.Forthright in confessing his party's own failings, Cuomo is remorseless in dismantling the opposition, using the floodlight of his clear prose to reveal the evasion and show the inadequacy of the now-famous, celebrated Contract with America. In its place, he offers a hopeful vision of what we the people might achieve if we can only learn to remember "we're all in this together." Written with a depth of understanding drawn from twenty years of daily involvement with local, state and federal government and six decades as the American son of quintessential immigrants, Reason to Believe is Cuomo's tribute to the uncompromising wisdom of people like his parents and the parents of his wife, Matilda, seekers and believers who taught him the lesson America needs so badly "that what is right is usually also what is necessary; that in helping one another we almost always help ourselves."
- GenresPoliticsNonfiction
206 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1995
2 people are currently reading
36 people want to read
About the author
Mario Cuomo
35 books8 followersMario Matthew Cuomo served as the 52nd Governor of New York from 1983 to 1994. Cuomo became nationally known for his keynote speech at the 1984 Democratic National Convention and the subsequent speculation over the next decade that he might run for the Democratic Party nomination for President of the United States.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 26, 2024
Since I first saw Cuomo’s phenomenal “Tale of Two Cities” speech, I’ve been wanting to learn more about him and his record as New York governor. He was obviously an extremely eloquent, thoughtful and compassionate leader who would’ve made for an incredible president. This book was an essential text on progressive politics that discussed education, healthcare, and the causes of crime in ways I had never thought of them.
“Perhaps you think government shouldn't have to pay for welfare, Medicaid, drug abuse treatment, job training, public schools, or assistance to the homeless. Maybe you think we should cut back on all these expenditures, because you'd appreciate paying less.
Think about it a little longer, though, and you'll see that things don't work that way. The truth is, where these programs don't already exist or are inadequate or underfunded, what we "save" in government outlays we simply pay for in another way-in part by exacting the cost in a thousand regrettable adjustments in our daily lives.
You pay for it every second of the sixty-minute commute you're stuck with because there's no place safe to live in the city anymore. You pay for it when your company can't find workers literate enough to do the job, when you feel forced to send your child to private school, when the premium on your health insurance keeps shooting upward to pay for all the people with no coverage at all. You pay for it when you choose to take a taxi instead of the subway to avoid explaining to your little daughter why, if that man lying on the platform is so cold, he can't just come home with you.”
“Perhaps you think government shouldn't have to pay for welfare, Medicaid, drug abuse treatment, job training, public schools, or assistance to the homeless. Maybe you think we should cut back on all these expenditures, because you'd appreciate paying less.
Think about it a little longer, though, and you'll see that things don't work that way. The truth is, where these programs don't already exist or are inadequate or underfunded, what we "save" in government outlays we simply pay for in another way-in part by exacting the cost in a thousand regrettable adjustments in our daily lives.
You pay for it every second of the sixty-minute commute you're stuck with because there's no place safe to live in the city anymore. You pay for it when your company can't find workers literate enough to do the job, when you feel forced to send your child to private school, when the premium on your health insurance keeps shooting upward to pay for all the people with no coverage at all. You pay for it when you choose to take a taxi instead of the subway to avoid explaining to your little daughter why, if that man lying on the platform is so cold, he can't just come home with you.”
January 9, 2010
While the book is old, Cuomo's vision of America is timeless. This is an excellent promulgation of a progressive policy agenda and rebuttal of fundamental conservative arguments. It is truly a shame that Governor Cuomo was never able to implement his vision as president.
October 7, 2010
sometimes i get a book and don't really get it. this was one of them. not sure why i got it, and it did not keep me connected.
March 6, 2023
I still remember driving with my wife and two small children in 1984 in our small Mazda GLC and listening to the Democratic National Convention on the radio. We were mesmerized by the simplicity and power of one of the greatest political speeches in US History, “The Tale of Two Cities.” A few years later we were living in NY and Mario Cuomo was our governor. I worked on several campaigns in those early years until other responsibilities pulled me into a different orbit where I really couldn’t engage much politically. Sensing my melancholy for political engagement my wife gave this book published in 1995. And I just recently pulled it from a forgotten bookshelf and read it.
Of the many things I appreciated about Mario was his clear-eyed, commonsense assessment of "where we are, where we're going, and what we should do about it". Forthright in confessing his party's own failings, Cuomo is relentless in dismantling the opposition, to show the inadequacy the rise of the Newt Gingrich, Contract with America. In its place Cuomo offers a hopeful vision of what we the people might achieve if we can only learn to remember that "we're all in this together".
Cuomo, who felt the sting of the Republican backlash in 1994, is compelled to acknowledge the hard realities that beset the Democratic Party in general and liberalism in particular. This commentary now almost 30 years old but sounds almost prophetic of our current politics. “Outrage is cheap, easy and oversold. The nation needs less anger and more thoughtful reflection, less shouting and more listening, less dissembling and more honesty.” Wow and just think where we are today; outrage tweets, soundbites, and little thoughtful dialogue.
Cuomo was willing to recognize failures in Democratic policies and notes that the electorate was “disenchanted” with the perceived failure of social welfare programs dating to the New Deal--but he insists that a return to society based on “rugged individualism” will do nothing at all to address the crisis of poverty, violence and despair in America. “From our economy to our culture, we are facing problems that are big, awkward, expensive, even repugnant,” Cuomo writes. “They will never get better if we pretend they don’t exist or insist they’re not our responsibility. And they will never quiet down if we just shout at them to shut up.”
The essential message of Cuomo’s book--and, in a sense, the best definition of liberalism in American politics--is that “we’re all in this together.” His credo, which he attributes to his late mother, is simple and decent: “In helping one another, we almost always help ourselves.” Nor does Cuomo concede the moral high ground of “family values” to the conservatives. He agrees that we ought to promote the values of “hard work, humility, self-sacrifice and persistence,” and he calls on us to “envelop [our children] in the warmth of our national ideas.”
Indeed, Cuomo appeals to our altruism, if any such notion actually exists in American politics nowadays, in arguing for a social safety net that cushions the fall of the downwardly mobile. But his more compelling argument owes nothing at all to good intentions; the American Dream is beyond the grasp of even the so-called middle class, he points out, and even the affluent have something to fear from the growing “underclass” of the poor and the powerless. “Even if your two-parent family is safely ensconced in the suburbs, happily employed, financially comfortable, well-educated, well-insured, young, healthy, able, and free of drugs, it’s in your self-interest for government to help those people who are not as lucky as you.”
Cuomo’s book--rather like the man himself--is earnest, sometimes downright sentimental, full of both high ideals and practical ideas, including a bit of self-effacing humor. Cuomo is mostly preaching to the choir and I wonder whether a single soft-spoken voice, no matter how articulate and appealing, will be heard in today’s political environment that has come to resemble one vast talk-radio hate-fest.
Of the many things I appreciated about Mario was his clear-eyed, commonsense assessment of "where we are, where we're going, and what we should do about it". Forthright in confessing his party's own failings, Cuomo is relentless in dismantling the opposition, to show the inadequacy the rise of the Newt Gingrich, Contract with America. In its place Cuomo offers a hopeful vision of what we the people might achieve if we can only learn to remember that "we're all in this together".
Cuomo, who felt the sting of the Republican backlash in 1994, is compelled to acknowledge the hard realities that beset the Democratic Party in general and liberalism in particular. This commentary now almost 30 years old but sounds almost prophetic of our current politics. “Outrage is cheap, easy and oversold. The nation needs less anger and more thoughtful reflection, less shouting and more listening, less dissembling and more honesty.” Wow and just think where we are today; outrage tweets, soundbites, and little thoughtful dialogue.
Cuomo was willing to recognize failures in Democratic policies and notes that the electorate was “disenchanted” with the perceived failure of social welfare programs dating to the New Deal--but he insists that a return to society based on “rugged individualism” will do nothing at all to address the crisis of poverty, violence and despair in America. “From our economy to our culture, we are facing problems that are big, awkward, expensive, even repugnant,” Cuomo writes. “They will never get better if we pretend they don’t exist or insist they’re not our responsibility. And they will never quiet down if we just shout at them to shut up.”
The essential message of Cuomo’s book--and, in a sense, the best definition of liberalism in American politics--is that “we’re all in this together.” His credo, which he attributes to his late mother, is simple and decent: “In helping one another, we almost always help ourselves.” Nor does Cuomo concede the moral high ground of “family values” to the conservatives. He agrees that we ought to promote the values of “hard work, humility, self-sacrifice and persistence,” and he calls on us to “envelop [our children] in the warmth of our national ideas.”
Indeed, Cuomo appeals to our altruism, if any such notion actually exists in American politics nowadays, in arguing for a social safety net that cushions the fall of the downwardly mobile. But his more compelling argument owes nothing at all to good intentions; the American Dream is beyond the grasp of even the so-called middle class, he points out, and even the affluent have something to fear from the growing “underclass” of the poor and the powerless. “Even if your two-parent family is safely ensconced in the suburbs, happily employed, financially comfortable, well-educated, well-insured, young, healthy, able, and free of drugs, it’s in your self-interest for government to help those people who are not as lucky as you.”
Cuomo’s book--rather like the man himself--is earnest, sometimes downright sentimental, full of both high ideals and practical ideas, including a bit of self-effacing humor. Cuomo is mostly preaching to the choir and I wonder whether a single soft-spoken voice, no matter how articulate and appealing, will be heard in today’s political environment that has come to resemble one vast talk-radio hate-fest.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews