Thursday, May 23, 2013

America the Beautiful - Rediscovering What Made This Nation Great ––By Dr. Ben Carson (2012): Book Review By Amos T. Wama



I’ve thumbed through the pages of a New York Times Best Seller and great book, “America the Beautiful - Rediscovering What Made This Nation Great”, by Dr. Benjamin Carson (with his wife, Candy).

Dr. Ben Carson is a prolific writer and Thinker; he’d also penned two profound books, ‘The Gifted Hands” and “Take the Risk”. He’s also God’s greatest gift to this generation: a gifted brain surgeon. Currently he is the Director of Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery & Professor of Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, U.S.A.

In February 2013, the Wall Street Journal–WSJ flaunted “Ben Carson for President” on its front page after Dr. Carson had intellectually ‘lectured’, President Barack Obama––my two role models in the same room––for 27 minutes straight during the ‘National Prayer Breakfast’ (07 Feb 2013). The speech became an instant hit and went viral on the internet. Considered the ‘New Conservative Folk Hero’ by many in the U.S., the devout Christian––who publicly declared ‘Jesus is my role model’––Dr. Carson had proposed logical, cost-effective policy options at the Prayer Breakfast.

Many of the ‘hot issues’ he addressed at the Prayer Breakfast are dealt comprehensively in this book––‘America the Beautiful.’ A brilliant student of history and intellectual powerhouse, Dr. Carson artfully canvasses a wide-array of issues––historical underpinnings of Europe’s current economic crisis and the lessons for the U.S.; political developments in U.S.; racism to which he’s nor bitter; capitalism; socialism; and America–a moral nation or not.  
                                                                                            
Coming from a poor background: rough and tough neighborhood and, being raised by a single mum doing multiple low-paying jobs, Dr. Carson is understandably passionate about quality education being the ‘key to success in life’. An avid reader and lover of books from childhood, what he ‘discovered between the pages of books’ guided him to realize full potential, to becoming the person he is today.

‘Walking the Talk’ in education, he’d founded the Carson Scholars Fund 17 years ago which operated in all 50 states. The Fund awards US$1,000 college scholarships to students in grades 4-11 who excel academically and are dedicated to serving their communities.

The multi–dimensional mind of a Neurosurgeon runs clearly throughout the book as it churns out innovative, cost-effective and practical solutions to U.S.’s pressing problems: from affordable HealthCare for every U.S. citizen to reducing the nation’s mind-numbing national debt. Dr. Carson’s Biblically-based idea of ‘tithing’–everyone dips in 10% of gross income–as a fiscal public policy instrument to address U.S.’s national debt problem is simple, straightforward and could get traction among weary voters.

What I liked best in this book is Dr. Carson’s upfront, uncompromising stance on ‘political correctness–PC’. If allowed to fester undeterred, he correctly asserts, PC would stifle ‘freedom of speech, thought and association’; evidently fracking one of U.S.’s bedrock principals on which it stands.

A must-read book I highly recommend to anyone wishing to be ‘read in’ the mind of a fascinating Thinker and world-class Neurosurgeon.

© Amos T. Wama
    Geneva, Switzerland
    21 May 2013