Dinesh D'Souza

Dinesh D'Souza
File:Dinesh DSouza.jpg
Born	(1961-04-25) April 25, 1961 Bombay, India
Nationality	United States
Education	Dartmouth College<br\ > Princeton University
Occupation	Political Writer
Known for	Political Commentary
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Dixie Brubaker
Children	Danielle
Website	http://www.dineshdsouza.com

Dinesh D'Souza (born April 25, 1961 in Bombay, India) is an author currently serving as the Robert and Karen Rishwain Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. D'Souza is the author of numerous New York Times best selling books and one of the most prolific and prominent conservative writers and speakers in the United States. A Roman Catholic, D'Souza is also known for his writings and debates defending Christianity.

Biography and Personal Life

D'Souza was born in Bombay, India to parents who came from the state of Goa in Western India. He arrived in the United States in 1978, originally through a Rotary International program. He attended high school in Patagonia, Arizona and then attended Dartmouth College, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1983.

In 1981, D'Souza published the names of officers of the Gay Student Alliance in an article for The Dartmouth Review, including the names of those who were still closeted.

Following his graduation from Dartmouth, D'Souza moved to Princeton, New Jersey, where he worked for Concerned Alumni of Princeton, a conservative organization strongly critical of coeducation, affirmative action, and campus access to birth control. While at Princeton, D'Souza became the editor of a conservative monthly called "the Prospect." The paper and its writers ignited much controversy during D'Souza's editorship. The school's vice president of public affairs at the time alleged that the paper had become "outwardly destructive and irresponsible." The paper also criticized the university's minority admission policies.

After his time in Princeton, D'Souza moved to Washington, D.C., where he served for two years as an editor of Policy Review, an influential conservative journal now published by the Hoover Institution. Several of D'Souza's Policy Review articles generated national attention. In "The Bishops as Pawns", D'Souza wrote that U.S. Catholic bishops were being manipulated by American liberals in agreeing to oppose the U.S. military buildup and use of power abroad and actually knew very little about these subjects to which they were lending their religious credibility, writing:

Interviews with these bishops suggest that they know little or nothing about the ideas and proposals to which they are putting their signature and lending their religious authority. The bishops are unfamiliar with existing defense and economic programs, unable to identify even in general terms the Soviet military capability, ignorant of roughly how much of the budget currently goes to defense, unclear about how much should be reallocated to social programs, and innocent of the most basic concepts underlying the intelligent layman's discussion of these questions.

In 1987 D'Souza left the magazine to serve as a policy advisor in Ronald Reagan's White House until 1988. He then joined the American Enterprise Institute, where he was the institute's John M. Olin fellow, before later joining the Hoover Institution.

In 1992, D'Souza married Dixie Brubaker, whom he first met during his time in Washington, D.C. They have one daughter, Danielle, and reside in Fairbanks Ranch, California.

Prior to his marriage in 1992, D'Souza had relationships with two well-known female conservatives, Laura Ingraham, a nationally-syndicated radio commentator to whom he was engaged but never married, and best-selling conservative author and commentator Ann Coulter.

During his career, D'Souza picked up the nickname "Distort D'Newza" from his more vocal critics. Although not flattering, he actually finds the nickname amusing. "I think I'm the one who thought of it!" He told SPY magazine in 1989. "I can't remember the exact orgins of Distort D'Newza, but I was very proud of it when it came out."

Ideology

Human nature

D'Souza is a noted conservative, and defines conservatism in the American sense as "conserving the principles of the American Revolution". In Letters to a Young Conservative, written as an introduction to conservative ideas for youth, D'Souza argues that it is a blend of classical liberalism and ancient virtue, in particular, "the belief that there are moral standards in the universe and that living up to them is the best way to have a full and happy life." He also argues against what he calls the modern liberal belief that "human nature is intrinsically good," and thus that "the great conflicts in the world…arise out of terrible misunderstandings that can be corrected through ongoing conversation and through the mediation of the United Nations."

Social policy and affirmative action

D'Souza challenges beliefs and projects such as affirmative action, and social welfare. In his book Illiberal Education he argued that many universities practiced intolerance of conservative views.

D'Souza has often stated his belief that idealizing the rebellion against slavery is a source of disability among some African Americans. He speculates that slaves, to preserve a sense of dignity, in the circumstances of slavery, would by nature tend to be defiant. This defiance would become the central heroic reference for African-American slaves, restoring a degree of pride and dignity to all. But, he continues, the price of this would be the habitually ingrained attitude of defiance that is ultimately self-destructive. These self-destructive habits still have a legacy today, D'Souza contends, and serve to explain, in a large part, the degree to which many slave descendants suffer from social and self-esteem issues.

D'Souza has attributed many modern social problems to what he calls the "cultural left". In his recent book The Enemy at Home: The Cultural Left and Its Responsibility for 9/11, he wrote that:

The cultural left in this country is responsible for causing 9/11 ... the cultural left and its allies in Congress, the media, Hollywood, the non-profit sector and the universities are the primary cause of the volcano of anger toward America that is erupting from the Islamic world.

Greatness of America and Multiculturalism

D'Souza's book "What's So Great About America?" (ISBN 0-142-00301-8) (Penguin, 2003), defends his adopted country against the criticisms that have been directed at it in the last couple of decades. In particular, he argues against the criticisms leveled by the Islamic world, domestic multiculturalists, those seeking slavery reparations, and especially America's left wing. Instead, he contends, Americans themselves are too critical and take for granted the "blessings" bestowed on them by living within the borders of the United States.

He also takes this a step further and challenges the notion that all world cultures are equal. "If one begins with the multicultural premise that all cultures are equal, then the world as it is makes very little sense," he says. "Some cultures have completely outperformed others in providing the things that all people seek -- health, food, housing, security and the amenities of life."

Critic of feminism

D'Souza also criticised aspects of feminism in Letters to a Young Conservative, writing that:

The feminist error was to embrace the value of the workplace as greater than the value of the home. Feminism has endorsed the public sphere as inherently more constitutive of women’s worth than the private sphere. Feminists have established as their criterion of success and self-worth an equal representation with men at the top of the career ladder. The consequence of this feminist scale of values is a terrible and unjust devaluation of women who work at home.

Media appearances

D'Souza has appeared a few times on CNN, including on Glenn Beck (TV program). Other media appearances include ABC's Nightline, CBS's Face the Nation, FOX News Channel's Hannity & Colmes, MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews, Comedy Central's The Colbert Report, and CNBC's Dennis Miller.

He will be debating Tufts University professor Daniel Dennett on November 30th at Tufts on the existence of a deity.

The Enemy at Home

In early 2007, D'Souza published "The Enemy at Home: The Cultural Left and its Responsibility for 9/11," in which he argues that the American left was in large part responsible for the Muslim anger that led to the September 11 attacks.

This thesis has been widely disputed by, among others, prominent conservatives such as Michelle Malkin and Hugh Hewitt, who contend that D'Souza openly sympathizes with Al Qaeda in The Enemy At Home, and who contend that his thesis that Muslim radicals would not hate the United States if not for cultural liberalism is a myth.

The book was almost universally criticized in major American newspapers and magazines and called, among other things, "the worst nonfiction book about terrorism published by a major house since 9/11" and "a national disgrace.".

D'Souza's book caused a controversy in the conservative movement, invoking a barrage of attacks back and forth between D'Souza and his conservative critics who widely mocked the thesis of his book, that the cultural left was responsible for 9/11. In response to his critics, he posted a 6,500-word essay on National Review Online, and NRO subsequently published a litany of responses from conservative authors who accused D'Souza of character assassination, elitism and pseudointellectualism.

Bibliography

Books

Books authored by Dinesh D'Souza include:

• 1984: Falwell, Before the Millennium: A Critical Biography, Regnery Publishing (ISBN 0-89526-607-5)
• 1986: The Catholic Classics (ISBN 0-87973-545-7)
• 1987: My Dear Alex: Letters From The KGB (with Gregory Fossedal), Regnery Publishing (ISBN 0-89526-576-1)
• 1991: Illiberal Education (ISBN 0-684-86384-7)
• 1995: The End of Racism (ISBN 0-684-82524-4)
• 1997: Ronald Reagan: How An Ordinary Man Became an Extraordinary Leader (ISBN 0-684-84823-6)
• 2000: The Virtue of Prosperity (ISBN 0-684-86815-6)
• 2002: What's So Great About America, Regnery Publishing (ISBN 0-89526-153-7)
• 2002: Letters to a Young Conservative (ISBN 0-465-01734-7)
• 2007: The Enemy At Home: The Cultural Left and Its Responsibility for 9/11 (ISBN 0-385-51012-8)
• 2007: What's So Great About Christianity, Regnery Publishing (ISBN 1-596-98517-8)

Articles

Articles written by Dinesh D’Souza include:

• Moon's Planet: The Politics and Theology of the Unification Church
• Ten Great Things About America
• How Ronald Reagan Won The Cold War
• Technology And Moral Progress
• We the Slaveowners: In Jefferson's America, Were Some Men Not Created Equal?
• The Self Esteem Hoax
• Two Cheers For Colonialism
• Reagan Versus The Intellectuals
• The Crimes of Christopher Columbus [7]
• 10 things to celebrate: Why I'm an anti-anti-American [8]
• God Knows Why Faith is Thriving [9]

External links

• Official website
• Official blog on AOL

• Dinesh D'Souza at IMDb
• "Equal Opportunity: The American Dilemma" – Debate with Tim Wise at The Evergreen State College, November 21, 1996
• "The Controversialist", San Diego Reader, April 14, 2005
• "God Knows Why Faith is Thriving", San Francisco Chronicle, October 22, 2006
• "Where Is Atheism When Bad Things Happen?", AOL, April 18, 2007
• "Is Christianity Good for the World?" – Debate with Michael Shermer at Oregon State University, October 15, 2007, part 1
• "Is Christianity Good for the World?" – Debate with Michael Shermer at Oregon State University, October 15, 2007, part 2
• "Is Christianity the Problem?" – Debate with Christopher Hitchens at The King's College, October 22, 2007