The Real Change-Makers: Why Government Is Not the Problem or the Solution.

AuthorUnderhill, Wendy
PositionBook review

The Real Change-Makers: Why Government Is Not the Problem or the Solution

By David Warfield Brown

Praeger

157 pages; $37

ISBN-13:978-0313397745

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Who finds solutions to social problems in America? Not the people sitting in government offices, argues David Warfield Brown. Change-makers are just ordinary folks, he says. The kind of people who not only see a problem and envision a solution, but have the gumption to make it happen. The kind of people, in fact, who bring good ideas based on their own experiences to those who are "in power," such as legislators.

Although Brown's Democratic credentials are unmistakable (he served as deputy mayor during the Koch administration in New York City), he seems to be channeling George Bush Sr.'s belief in "a thousand points of light," with a healthy dollop of hand-wringing borrowed from Robert Putnam's "Bowling Alone."

Brown argues that the answers to social problems won't come from more litigation, legislation, regulations or funding. "Simply put, government did not create our social problems, nor will it solve them for us. They require our social attention."

This message could be aimed at government for trying to do too much, but actually, he's addressing people who do too little, those who he says are "putting down government but at the same time putting up with it."

Brown's brand of pragmatic, citizen-based advocacy is described throughout the book with examples from three social arenas: health care, education and poverty. For Brown what matters most isn't the issue, it's the motivation inside change-makers.

He's especially interested in motivating baby boomers--those old enough to have spare time but young enough to have spare energy--to get up and get going.

Readers find words of wisdom on how to target the issue, locate fellow enthusiasts, build momentum and, when...

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