The author defends the country for what it really is, not the idealistic view many people believe and expect it should be. He goes so far as to say that America is the best country and that he would not want to live or raise his children in any other.
The first chapter in the book is entitled “Why They Hate Us.” In this D'Souza explains what it is that other countries hate about western civilization. This is where he introduces three ideologies, the “Islamic school” of thought, the “Asian school,” and the “European school.”
The Islamic school of thought is that it is impossible to take anything good from American society, meaning it is impossible to accept the good parts of the society without having to accept some of the bad parts too. Their entire culture is religion based and their religion sets the laws in their society. This makes it impossible for them to accept only a part of western culture without going against their religion. Almost every part of their lives are different from that of westerners. The caste system has been engraved in their society for far too long for them to accept anything else, like a democracy, free trade, and social rights.
Sayyid Qutb was an Islamist who became a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, a terrorist organization which is one of the oldest of radical Islam. He heavily opposed the spread of American influence and believed that the west had separated the realm of God from the realm of society, the west being a society of freedom while Islam a society based on virtue.
Instead of completely dismissing the western culture's view, the Asian school of thought is this, “America and the West have solved the economic problem but they have not solved the cultural problem” (16). They look to model their economy after the west, allowing citizens of some areas free commerce, while not allowing the western cultural influences in. They have strict laws against vandalism and even forbid chewing gum in public. The goal behind this is attempting to build the country up to have the same prosperity as the west without the heinous crimes, corruption, and vulgarity.
D'Souza, an immigrant himself, also discusses how America is one of the only countries in which an immigrant can become a full citizen in terms of legality and culture. If a person moved to India, France, or Africa, lived there for 30 years, and even became a legal citizen of the country, they would still not be considered Indian, French, or African. For the most part, people come to America, assimilate after time, and can be considered Americans. D'Souza believes being an American is not so much birth place and nationality, but accepting and withholding a set of ideas, the American Ideology. (34)
D'Souza discussed many domestic reasons for Anti-Americanism. It is common for Americans to abuse or take advantage of their freedom, using freedom of speech to insult or disrespect people around them, along with popular culture. People flaunt premarital sex, pornography, and drug culture just because they can and this especially angers others from different countries. The beauty about America though is that you can do whatever you want within the law, even if it is seen as inappropriate by others.
French Anti-Americanism is based on their cultural superiority combined with the fear that their culture is losing its uniqueness in the rest of the world. The French feel that no single country should enjoy global domination and that the spread of the English language is going to jeopardize the future of the French language and culture. The actions of Osama Bin Laden with his numerous terrorist attacks earned him followers who believed in Anti-Americanism, mostly from the Islamic world, and in the Islamic school of thought it is believed that the Islamic culture is being taken over by American Culture.
D'Souza sees the political right, conservatism, as being generally the more patriotic party. Many conservatives are unhappy with current American Society and its “cultural breakdown.” In recent years however, patriotism has diminished in conjunction with morality and popular culture. Pat Buchanan goes as far as to say that the country he grew up in has been replaced by “a cultural wasteland and a moral sewer that are not worth living in and not worth fighting for” (25).
On the political left, Anti-Americanism has been prevalent and fashionable since the Vietnam War. Some believe that we had it coming, referring to terrorist attacks. Jennie Traschen insults the country that has given her freedom and safety by calling the United States “a symbol of terrorism and death and fear and destruction and oppression” (26). Overall, as someone who can think for themselves, and who holds a unique point of view, being an immigrant, D'Souza tends to agree with the political right in thinking that they are correct.
