Book Review: "Liberty and Tyranny" by Mark Levin
This is the first of what I hope to be many book reviews on this site. I have a little journal that I have always tried to jot down a few thoughts in after I finish a book so I don't completely forget what even the main gist of the book was. But I have found that often I would like to be more specific on what my thoughts were on the book- it's style, it's content, what I learned from it.
"Liberty and Tyranny" has one of those ambitious titles usually attached to the type of book that only has very broad ideas with non-specific prescriptions in the last chapter. This book by radio-talk show host Mark Levin is not one of those types. First of all, I was skeptical of the book even before I knew the title, because the author himself had always put me off a bit by his tone on the radio. Only listening to his show a few times had given me the impression that he was probably a neo-conservative Bush loyalist. That perception was not fair.
In "Liberty and Tyranny" Levin sets out to enunciate on the misunderstandings of the terms, but in particular the term Liberty. The back cover of the book has a quote by Abraham Lincoln from which he pulls the term and I think warrants being repeated:
Levin does a very good job of explaining the logical inconsistencies with what he calls the "Statists" (I was so thankful to not have to hear the devisive word "Liberal" misused over and over; Statist is the correct description of one who follows a philosophy that refutes individualism) and their agenda as well as their uses of the language of liberty.
I think that this is a very important subject. There is a real rift among conservatives and we are just now starting to get the language to effectively describe the difference in the various camps. I think that Levin has it right when he explains the primary difference as Statism, since so many that call themselves conservatives seem to have no real and practical commitment to individual liberties, and to whom the word Statist applies as much as it does to those who are so often referred to as liberals. Also, with the rise of libertarian thinkers and the Libertarian party itself as a real alternative to many Republicans, there was a need to elaborate on what the differences may be between a real, philosophically consistant conservative, and a libertarian.
I found that the differences between the two only became obvious in his last few chapters, the ones on immigration and defense. What I have read from authors that identify themselves as 'libertarian' rather than 'conservative' make me think that the mainstream libertarian view is fairly divergent from Levin's on those subjects. I found myself not knowing exactly where I stand- whether more on the side of the conservative or the libertarian on matters of defense. I suppose I will have to read more arguments from both sides.
His chapters on the founders intentions, the constitution and the free market were not only extremely well written and easily digested by the layman, but were solid in their arguments and examples. Reading the first half of the book made me extremely optimistic on mainstream conservatisms ability to focus on what liberty really means, especially as it relates to human action in the marketplace- "...for if the individual cannot keep or dispose of the value he creates by his own intellectual and/or physical labor, he exists to serve the state." (pg 42)
I have read a lot of non-fiction books that intend to be a manifesto of this or that brand of political philosophy. Very few have lived up to their own ambitions. "Liberty and Tyranny" is one that does. I highly recommend it, even if, like me, you were not initially a fan of Mark Levin.
"Liberty and Tyranny" has one of those ambitious titles usually attached to the type of book that only has very broad ideas with non-specific prescriptions in the last chapter. This book by radio-talk show host Mark Levin is not one of those types. First of all, I was skeptical of the book even before I knew the title, because the author himself had always put me off a bit by his tone on the radio. Only listening to his show a few times had given me the impression that he was probably a neo-conservative Bush loyalist. That perception was not fair.
In "Liberty and Tyranny" Levin sets out to enunciate on the misunderstandings of the terms, but in particular the term Liberty. The back cover of the book has a quote by Abraham Lincoln from which he pulls the term and I think warrants being repeated:
"We all declare for liberty; but in using the same word we do not all mean the same thing. With some the word liberty may mean for each man to do as he pleases with himself, and the product of his labor; while with others, the same word may mean for some men to do as they please with other men, and th product of other men's labor. Here are two, not only different, but incompatable things, called by the same name-- liberty. And it follows that each of the things is, by the respective parties, called by two different and incompatible names-- liberty and tyranny."
- Abraham Lincoln, 1864
Levin does a very good job of explaining the logical inconsistencies with what he calls the "Statists" (I was so thankful to not have to hear the devisive word "Liberal" misused over and over; Statist is the correct description of one who follows a philosophy that refutes individualism) and their agenda as well as their uses of the language of liberty.
I think that this is a very important subject. There is a real rift among conservatives and we are just now starting to get the language to effectively describe the difference in the various camps. I think that Levin has it right when he explains the primary difference as Statism, since so many that call themselves conservatives seem to have no real and practical commitment to individual liberties, and to whom the word Statist applies as much as it does to those who are so often referred to as liberals. Also, with the rise of libertarian thinkers and the Libertarian party itself as a real alternative to many Republicans, there was a need to elaborate on what the differences may be between a real, philosophically consistant conservative, and a libertarian.
I found that the differences between the two only became obvious in his last few chapters, the ones on immigration and defense. What I have read from authors that identify themselves as 'libertarian' rather than 'conservative' make me think that the mainstream libertarian view is fairly divergent from Levin's on those subjects. I found myself not knowing exactly where I stand- whether more on the side of the conservative or the libertarian on matters of defense. I suppose I will have to read more arguments from both sides.
His chapters on the founders intentions, the constitution and the free market were not only extremely well written and easily digested by the layman, but were solid in their arguments and examples. Reading the first half of the book made me extremely optimistic on mainstream conservatisms ability to focus on what liberty really means, especially as it relates to human action in the marketplace- "...for if the individual cannot keep or dispose of the value he creates by his own intellectual and/or physical labor, he exists to serve the state." (pg 42)
I have read a lot of non-fiction books that intend to be a manifesto of this or that brand of political philosophy. Very few have lived up to their own ambitions. "Liberty and Tyranny" is one that does. I highly recommend it, even if, like me, you were not initially a fan of Mark Levin.
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