Do-Gooders: How Liberals Hurt Those They Claim to Help

by Mona Charen

Mona Charen has a loyal following from her syndicated newspaper column (which runs in more than two hundred newspapers) and her many television and radio appearances. Her first book, Useful Idiots, was an eight-week New York Times bestseller. Now she’s back, switching her focus from foreign policy to domestic issues.

Unlike some conservatives who throw verbal hand grenades, Charen never gets shrill or mean. Instead, she focuses on the facts to reveal exactly why liberals are wrong—and how their proposals hurt the very people they claim to be fighting for, as well as the country as a whole.

Do-Gooders is a guide to the smug know-it-alls in politics, the news media, and Hollywood who think they know what’s best for the poor and other needy Americans. From Marian Wright Edelman to John Kerry, Hillary Rodham Clinton to Rob Reiner, this book will skewer the liberals by name. It covers topics such as:
• Education: Do-gooders send their own kids to private schools while working to deny poor children a better education through voucher programs.
• Affirmative Action: Do-gooders defend racial preferences at all costs while ignoring the enormous problems they create for African Americans at all levels of achievement.
• Welfare: Do-gooders thought welfare reform in the 1990s would hurt the poor, and they still refuse to admit how much it actually helped.

By collecting and exposing the most outrageous quotes and actions of the do- gooders, this book will become a must-read for conservatives across the country as they gear up for the next round of policy battles.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, History

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Toe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mona Charen is a conservative who has no qualms about her distaste for liberal ideology, the policies liberals support, or the disastrous consequences that so often follow. She is unapologetically partisan. Why apologize or compromise when one party is clearly in the wrong? She exposes six of the Left’s failures from the last half century or so beginning with the counter-cultural revolution of the 1960’s. She argues that Liberalism contributed directly to:

1. A surge in crime when Liberals softened on crime because of the misguided belief that poverty causes it. It’s much more likely that crime causes poverty or that another character flaw leads to both. Liberals became attracted to the notion that “society” was to blame for crime instead of the criminals themselves. Criminals were treated as victims instead of the worthless piles of dog squeeze that they are. Charen places the blame mostly on Liberal judges in Court rulings. Rules regarding the permissibility of evidence were made much more stringent, and people were let off on technicalities much more frequently. The average amount of prison time served for crimes decreased. Rehabilitation became the aim instead of punishment or deterrence. Needless to say, as criminals realized that both the likelihood of being punished and the severity of punishment were significantly reduced, crime became a much more attractive activity. The bottom line is that people respond to incentives and standards. Liberals constantly work to lower or eliminate these standards instead of forcing people to live up to them.

2. Ethnic balkanization because special interest groups have financial and political incentives to fan the flames of racial strife. Affirmative action is just the most obvious example of goodies being doled out to select groups. Liberals repeatedly distort or invent facts to paint a picture of the world that doesn’t exist. They make claims of “systemic racism” when all the quantifiable evidence points to the fact that race by itself is no longer a hindrance to anyone’s achievement or success in America. Dems use the race card on so many issues I don’t see how people haven’t associated it with crying wolf. Dems use this balkanization and they create “victims” who will consistently support Democratic policies by voting for them. It’s a political ploy. The media is complicit in hiding relevant facts such as a higher percentage of Republican Senators and Congressman voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 than Democrats. How many people know that?

3. The creation, expansion, and abuse of welfare. It gives them a steady supply of voters but it also undermines people’s desire and drive to become independent and productive. Why work and struggle when everything can and will be handed to you? It’s just commonsense. When Republicans passed welfare reform in the 90’s over Clinton’s double veto, people did not starve in the streets. They went out and worked as all of us have to do. In the process, they regained lost skills, confidence, legitimacy, and pride.

4. The destruction of the family. Liberalism and specifically radical feminism tried to push through the notion that marriage was barbaric and oppressive to women. The result was that divorce rates and illegitimate births skyrocketed. The facts show that children from traditional two parent homes (meaning a mother and father—how ridiculous that I should even have to clarify that) are better off in nearly every quantifiable way: they are less likely to be malnourished, suffer from poverty, be abused, drop out of school, get into trouble with the law, etc.

5. The explosion of homelessness. It began when Liberals argued that most mentally insane were not insane at all, but merely stifled by the rigidities of society. They worked to free these people from institutions where they were formerly held. They also defended these bums from any attempt to protect others from them. The homeless were allowed to sleep in the streets and roam through libraries and harass pedestrians. Surprise, surprise, libs wanted to throw money at the problem. Unfortunately, over 85% of the homeless are mentally ill, addicted to drugs, or alcoholics. Thus, when handed the cash, they used it to feed their detrimental habits, not turn their lives around. Another theme of the book is thus revealed: Liberals are enablers. They don't understand that tough love works. People respond to incentives and will take what is given to them.

6. The crippling of education. Liberals have destroyed education in America. The government monopoly on schools is exacerbated by the teachers unions: National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers. These special interests make their living off the taxpayers. Despite falling test scores in every subject and the obvious ignorance of our high-school graduates, Libs demand even more money. We have doubled the amount of money spent per child since 1970 in constant dollars (so you can't whine about inflation, another government created problem) while achievement has tanked. Money is not the problem. We spend more on education than we do on the military and we spend much more per student than other countries (Japan, Holland, Korea) that destroy us on standardized tests. The problem is that there is no competition in the school system. Crappy teachers and crappy schools that do not teach can’t be fired or closed down. They have no incentive to teach. In fact, they constantly try to avoid teaching by adopting "creative spelling", bilingual education programs, and other demonstrable failures. The solution is removal of government from the educational sphere. The immediate political solution is to introduce competition via a voucher system. The liberal special interests know they have a good thing going with the hundreds of billions funneled to them and fight vouchers tooth and nail. They are terrified of it because it would break up their cartel. Most damaging of all is that Liberals in academia not only fail to teach but also actively work to discredit America and indoctrinate helpless students into believing that America is innately and purely evil and imperialistic. They focus ceaselessly on our failures (slavery, which ended 140 years ago) and rarely on our achievements and contributions (ending slavery, raising the standards of living for everyone in society, defeating the Nazis, defeating the commies, creating the freest and most heterogenous society of all time, etc.). Without a cohesive history or national identity, we are in trouble. Dems play on this by demonizing white males and courting the votes of “victims”. It makes sense politically, but it doesn’t help the country or anyone within it.

Do-Gooders is worth reading. Charen’s arguments are not original, the material is covered elsewhere. Her contribution is to provide facts and numbers along with a coherent story to the theories. Single parent homes are just as good, claim liberals? Ok, then why are children anywhere from 6 to 33 times more likely to be sexually abused when raised by single parents rather than two parents? Why do our public schools suck? The Education of the Handicapped Act of 1966, Goss v. Lopez, Tinker v. Des Moines School District for starters. The facts are key in discerning the truth. The single biggest problem with anyone taking an ideology or special interest to an extreme is that the Truth suffers. Charen shows the specific obfuscations, distortions, and outright lies that some Liberals have been mucking up the Truth with in order to gain financial or political power.

Memorable quotes:

“No serious person would suggest that American history should be taught in a cheerleading way or that this nation’s many sins and flaws should be glossed over. That would be an offense against the truth. At the same time, taken for all in all, and compared with other nations, we have less to fear from the truth than any other society.”

“The IDEA law suffered from a disability of its own, and it is the same disability that affects most liberal thinking. It looks at the world from the perspective of a person with troubles—whether self-imposed or not is irrelevant—and attempts to compensate him without regard for the way this special consideration will affect the majority and without recognizing that special favors are not always good even for their intended beneficiaries.”

"Liberals always look back upon the 1960s as the high-water mark of idealism and selflessness. I view it differently. The ideas that took root in the 1960s were uniformly self-indulgent, childish, antiintellectual, irresponsible, and destructive. They failed because they were completely inconsistent with human nature."

"When you demonstrate indifference to the harmful effects of your supposedly benevolent efforts, isn't it fair to call your motives into question?"

"This book is a chronicle of failure--the failure of liberals to help those they set out to help. But it is also a moral challenge. Liberals must be called to account for the real havoc they have created in so many lives. They must be asked to offer something more than good intentions when their actions lead to disaster."

[Ellis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Before reading:
No, I am not excited about reading this book, but I couldn't help but be intrigued by a book title that, by itself, teaches us that acting selfishly is best for everyone, and that also, rather than making us feel guilty, pats us on the back for our greed and our disdain for others(it's remarkable how that philosophy is wholy opposed to the other most important philosophy I've been taught in life). A title like this, and my belief in exposing myself to differing viewpoints (which often leads me to drink from very bitter wells), leads me to this book....

[Jary Welker · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must read in this almost concluded political season. In her book published in 2004, Mona Charen has treated masterfully the ravages done by the liberal left on American culture, society and it's citizens, all in their so called attempt to "help." I can only wonder what further harm has been done in the last 8 years. Get it and read it.

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Slightly humorous but so one-sided in it's opinions that it was very predictable and hard to take seriously

[Gina Herald · Rating 4 out of 5]

The sobering truth about social justice programs and other well intentioned but misguided initiatives.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a really good, convincing book. The book covers problems with racism, poverty, homelessness, child welfare, and education. I'm sure that there is a fair amount of hypberbole here, but all of the author's arguments make a lot of sense to me. Unfortunately, the folks who could really benefit from this book will never read it.

[Tim Cox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liberals won't like this book, but it should be mandatory reading for anyone who leans that way. Conservatives should skip it. It says what you already believe.

[Jeremy · Rating 3 out of 5]

"There is nothing more painful to me at this stage in my life than to walk down the street and hear footsteps and start thinking about robbery - and then look around and see somebody white and feel relieved." Jesse Jackson

"As the data from the past decade clarify, there is no evidence that poverty causes crime but a great deal of evidence that crime causes poverty."

"All of the overheated rhetoric notwithstanding, the commission found no examples of black Floridians who had been inhibited in any way from exercising the [right to vote:]."

“The day African Americans stop casting 80 to 95 percent of their votes for the Democrats is the day Democrats stop winning elections. That is the simple calculus that explains all of the divisive, mendacious, and inflammatory rhetoric Democrats employ on the subject of race.”

“Derrick Bell of Harvard Law School let it be known that Thomas ‘doesn’t think like a black,’ and Judge Bruce Wright of New York described Thomas as ‘emotionally white.’”

“Jack White, writing in Time magazine, seemed to offer the view that Thomas might be suffering from a diagnosable mental condition – ‘Token Black Disorder’ – in which the sufferer works too hard to meet the demands of white society.”

“Only later, when Bill Clinton was president and stood accused of far worse sexual harassment (by many more complainants) than Thomas, was the full measure of liberal hypocrisy revealed. Those who had painstakingly explained that any sexual advance on the part of a superior toward a subordinate in a work environment was per se sexual harassment were suddenly allowing that consenting adults ought to do whatever they please.”

“[Al:] Sharpton’s gangs picketed the store, shouting, ‘This block for niggers only: no whites and Jews allowed.’ Some chanted, ‘Kill the Jew bastards and burn down the Jew store.’ One protester took the words literally and broke into the store with a gun. He shot four people and then set the store ablaze, killing seven.”

“According to the Congressional Quarterly, only 61 percent of Democrats in the House of Representatives supported the [Civil Rights:] act, while 80 percent of Republicans voted in favor. In the Senate, 69 percent of Democrats and 82 percent of Republicans voted in favor.”

“President Clinton awarded the Medal of Freedom to former senator William Fulbright, a signer of the ‘Southern Manifesto’ condemning Brown v. Board of Education.”

“In 130 cities and counties in 1994, John McWhorter reports, black married families actually earned more than white married families.”

“Continued dependence on relief induced a spiritual and moral disintegration fundamentally destructive to the national fiber. To dole out relief in this way is to administer a narcotic, a subtle destroyer of the human spirit.” Franklin D Roosevelt

“In the Great Depression year of 1936, 147,000 families, about 1 percent of the population, received welfare. In 1994, a stronger year economically and a world away from the Depression, 15 percent of the population was on welfare.”

“In the 1950s, blacks had been more likely than whites to be married.”

"I've got six kids. Every one of them has a different daddy. It's my job to have kids, and your job, Mr. Mayor, to take care of them." Welfare mother, to Mayor John Lindsay

"A child born to an African American married couple was less likely to be poor than a child born to a single white woman."

"Only 2.6 percent of those age sixteen or above who work full time are poor, according to the Bureau of the Census."

“Welfare reform did of course become law in 1996… Since 1996, welfare rolls have been reduced by 60 percent. The poverty rate has declined from 13.8 percent in 1995 to 11.7 percent in 2003… Poverty among African American children has reached its lowest point in history… Welfare reform has been the greatest domestic policy success of the last 30 years.”

“Some states require applicants to make at least twenty job-seeking phone calls from cubicles at the welfare office. Many would-be applicants, faced with this requirement, simply walk out the door.”

“One big lesson seems to be that if you require people to work for their benefits, great numbers will go off and make other arrangements… They had more survival strategies than I first understood.” Jason de Parle, reporter for the New York Times

“The long-standing liberal attitude toward the poor – the belief that they are childlike, irresponsible, and incompetent – has been revealed for what it was: condescension… Liberals claim to be motivated by compassion, but compassion without respect is patronizing.”

“The children of divorce and illegitimacy have paid the price for liberalism’s attachment to free love and radical individualism. Abused and neglected children have paid the price for liberalism’s tendency to sentimentalize the poor.”

“A single-parent college graduate, on average, enjoys a lower family income than an intact family of high school graduates.”

“The poverty rate for children of single mothers is 45 percent. For children of intact families, the poverty rate is 6 percent.”

“But as a famous study…discovered, those who do four simple things will not be poor in America. Those four steps are (1) get married, (2) get a job, (3) finish high school, (4) wait until after marriage to have your first child.”

“Adopted children score higher than their middle-class counterparts in school, have better social skills, and are more optimistic than the general population.”

“When careful experimental and control group studies were finally undertaken, no advantage accrued to children who had participated in family preservation programs.”

“Liberals are romantics. They believe that children come into the world possessed of deep and inspiring knowledge and that we would do well to simply unlock this treasure. Education should accordingly be fun – a process of discovery more than instruction.”

“Of seventy-six students surveyed by the Post, 66 percent knew about the Japanese-American internment but only 33 percent could name even one American general.”

“In 1965, the average per-pupil expenditure for primary and secondary schools students was $3,000 per year. By 1995, it had more than doubled to $6,500 (in constant dollars)… Spending rose in every category – salaries, equipment, special programs, transportation, and administration… By 2003-2004, local, state, and federal governments spent half a trillion dollars on elementary and secondary education… In 2003-2004, the United States spend $375 billion on defense, so education spending far outstrips defense spending.”

“The national average per-pupil expenditure in 2001 was $8,745. In some states, spending was much higher. The District of Columbia, for example, is near the top, spending $15,122 per pupil. And how does this munificence affect student performance? The District of Columbia’s students are at the very bottom of national rankings.”

“During George W. Bush’s first three years in office, spending on education increased by $56 billion. Nevertheless, Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-AK) protested in 2002 that ‘President Bush and his allies in Congress have placed educated reform on a starvation diet.’”

“[Liberal thinking:] looks at the world from the perspective of a person with troubles – whether self-imposed or not is irrelevant – and attempts to compensate him without regard for the way this special consideration will affect the majority and without recognizing that special favors are not always good even for their intended beneficiaries.”

“Conspiring politicians remain wedded to a system of waste and mediocrity because of the fundraising prowess of teachers unions and other interest groups.” Rev. Floyd Flake, African-American minister

“Nationwide, 57 percent of black Americans support school vouchers (as compared with 49 percent of the general public). But among black parents, support rises to 75 percent.”

“In Milwaukee, 50 percent of public school teachers send their children to private schools.”

[Camilla Diloreto · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh

[Mark McCormick · Rating 4 out of 5]

yowza

[Charles Blumberg]

Covers several areas that liberal attempts to fix have created worse problems with lots of statistics...high level quotes from book: (1) Compassion binge towards criminals lets them run free to terrorize poor neighborhoods (2) Even FDR, JFK, RFK said welfare destroys human dignity (3) Liberals own every education reform over the past 50 years and the only result is US is unable to compete with the world (4) Most obvious solution to child maltreatment is promoting marriage and the family (5) End of state run mental institutions is a primary factor in increased homelessness

[Todd Stockslager · Rating 3 out of 5]

Descriptive but pedestrian account of how liberal ideas of the last 50 years have harmed citizens and society, focusing on crime, welfare and childcare issues.

The descriptive is dead on, but the prescriptive is missing: Charen makes no attempt to define a way out of the mess.

[John Weibull · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always enjoy a thorough thrashing of American Leftist ideology, and so far this book is getting high marks.

[Brianhansen · Rating 3 out of 5]

ha ha, just to validate my already mega biased prejudices, too bad these books always hurt my testimony of conservatism becuase they're so over the top

[Kristi Willard · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great conservative book about liberal compassion.

[Travis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great summation of how government intervention has the opposite of it's intended effect at much higher than projected cost.

[Carolyn Lockwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well thought arguments that are soundly articulated.