Dinesh D'Souza, the Robert and Karen Rishwain Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, presented one of the final lectures in the 2004-2005 Levitt Center Lecture series at Hamilton on April 20. D'Souza discussed many of the ideas included in his most recent book, New York Times bestseller, What's So Great About America?
"We are living in an extraordinary moment in history," D'Souza said opening his lecture. He suggested that Islamic fundamentalism is replacing the Soviet Union as the West's leading threat today. Although this may seem preposterous at first, D'Souza said, the claim does not seem outrageous when one takes into consideration that fundamentalists are "true believers." The idea of truly believing in one's cause, he explained, makes Islamic fundamentalism a more powerful threat than that ever posed by the Soviet Union.
As a result of this power struggle, D'Souza urged America to take a step back and reexamine its controversial role it the world. "America is the most attractive and most repulsive society in the world," he stated. "What it was about the United States that provoked such polarizing reactions?" D'Souza asked rhetorically.
D'Souza looked specifically at what attracts so many to America; the first reaction, he said, is the reasoning that America is the land of opportunity, where immigrants can come, make money and get rich.
Although this may be the initial attraction to America, this idea seems limiting to D'Souza. The United States, unlike other nations of the world, may allow for more mobility, but there is less security, he argued. "There is also a social egalitarianism that limits the prerogative of wealth," he added.
What truly distinguishes America from other nations is that it offers citizens the opportunity to have a self-directed life, D'Souza explained. The United States allows citizens to be the architect of their own destiny, and this is what makes America so appealing.
Conversely, there are many elements of America that many do not like. D'Souza explained that there are two camps of Anti-American sentiment: those who do not like what America does, (and therefore do not agree with American foreign policy); and those who do not like what America is.
D'Souza argued that those who disagree with American foreign policy because it appears driven by self-interest, are wrong: at the core of every nation's foreign policy lies self-interest. The true question, D'Souza asked, was whether America's self-interests are only benefiting America or the entire world. His answer: America's foreign policies historically and today have left the world a better place.
Those who do not like America for what it is argue that Islamic society is based on a tradition of virtues and that American society is based on a tradition of freedom, D'Souza stated. Values, according to those American critics, trump the idea of freedom, citing that freedom can be used for good and bad.
D'Souza answered such critics, arguing liberty to be a "necessary prerequisite for virtue. It is only when one can choose 'good' freely that one can choose 'good.' The United States gives citizens the scope to choose," he explained "Virtue is non-existent in Islamic fundamentalist society where freedom doesn't exist."
Dinesh D'Souza was senior domestic policy analyst at the White House during the Reagan Administration from 1987-1988 and is the author of numerous books, including the New York Times bestsellers Illiberal Education (1991) and What's So Great About America (2002).
The Levitt Center Speaker Series brings the experiences of policy analysts, policy makers and policy administrators to campus. "The U.S. Budget: Power, Politics and Priorities" is the 2004-2005 Speaker Series theme.
--by Emily Lemanczyk '05
