It Takes A Village, by Hillary Clinton


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BOOK REVIEW by OnTheIssues.org:

This book is Hillary's classic -- not so much a political book as a definition of her view of the world. It was written in 1996, well before she was considering running for the presidency. Hence it does not have much in the way of policy prescriptions. However, Hillary added an introduction in December 2006, for the "10th Anniversary Edition," along with a new set of end-notes commenting on her updated thoughts on the original text. Those 2006 additions were written with her presidential run in mind, and constitute the bulk of our excerpts. (The 2006 additions are cited as roman-numeral pages for the introduction, and page numbers above 299 for the end-notes).

The theme of Hillary's book is that children are raised not just by their parents, but also by all of the other people in the society around them. Therefore, according to Hillary, all the components of that society -- the schools and the government, but the businesses too -- have an obligation to consider their impact on children that they affect. Apparently Hillary's belief in this philosophy has been strengthened in the past 10 years, because her new commentary reinforces her original policy prescriptions with a decade of additional evidence.

On the left side of the political spectrum, one might view that philosophy as the underlying value of a compassionate society which is appropriately focused on child-rearing as its core activity. On the right side of the political spectrum, one might view that philosophy as a rationale for a government takeover of anything related to child-rearing, which can be expansively defined as anything at all. In either case, Hillary's philosophy is out in the open for public inspection -- she has not hidden her beliefs since at least 1996.

-- by Jesse Gordon, jesse@OnTheIssues.org, November 2007

OnTheIssues.org excerpts:  (click on issues for details)

Abortion     Cairo Document: right to abortion but not as family planning.     Fought for years to get “Plan B” contraceptive on the market.

Civil Rights     Affirmative living: involve entire village against racism.

Corporations     Family-friendly work policies are good for business.     Businesses play social role in US; gov’t oversight required.

Crime     Supports citizen patrols & 3-Strikes-You’re-Out.     Pushed to expand AMBER alerts & for stricter sex penalties.

Drugs     Involved parents most influential in reducing teen drug use.

Education     Character education: teach empathy & self-discipline.     Allow student prayer, but no religious instruction.     Supports Goals 2000: hardly the stuff of revolution.     Supports public school choice and charter schools.     Early education affects things from IQ to lifelong earnings.     2001: Proposed and passed National Teacher Corps.

Families & Children     Children are not rugged individualists.     Teens not ready for sex; provide havens for alternatives.     Family Leave Act is a good start; paid leave better.     Chelsea benefited from “village” & from two parents.     It takes a village to raise a child, in interdependent world.     Mother’s difficult childhood sparked concern for kids.     Supported foster care adoptions as First Lady & as Senator.

Gun Control     Get weapons off the streets; zero tolerance for weapons.

Health Care     1997: Helped found State Children’s Health Insurance Program.

Jobs     Recently “we’re in it together” became “you’re on your own”.     Minimum wage increases haven’t kept up with Congress’ wages.

Social Security     Respect unique power of government to meet social needs.

Tax Reform     Expand child tax credit for child’s first year.

Technology     Innovations make better parent-child connections at distance.     Introduced CAMRA to study how sex in media affects teens.

Click for quotations from other sources by: Hillary Clinton