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The POLITICS OF BAD FAITH: The Radical Assault on America's Future

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Observing the catastrophic misdeeds and failures of the revolutionary left from Robespierre's time to the present, former left-wing activist David Horowitz reflects, "One might conclude from these facts that the Left is now no more than a historical curiosity, and the intellectual tradition that sustained it for two hundred years is at an end. But if history were a rational process, mankind would have learned these lessons long ago, and rejected the socialist fallacies that have caused such epic grief." Instead, what exists in many arenas in American life today is the wolf of radical leftism in sheep's clothing, now calling itself "liberal" or "progressive" or "populist" or anything other than what it actually is. Horowitz reveals that in the past twenty years the hard left has come to permeate academia, government bureaucracy, and the Democratic Party. Far from being a "historical curiosity," the radical left is alive and well, travelling incognito.

Horowitz gives a marvelous example of its tenacity in discussing the "liberal" reaction to the recent passage of the California Civil Rights Initiative (CCRI). CCRI officially bars racial discrimination in public employment, education, and contracting. In so doing, it effectively outlaws affirmative action. The ACLU and NAACP went to court to have CCRI declared unconstitutional. Ironically, these groups argued that CCRI - a law banning discrimination - was discriminatory. The paradox begins to make sense once one recognizes that the ACLU, the NAACP, and American "liberals" in general no longer hold that the concept of equality means equality before the law and equality of opportunity. To them, as to the Bolsheviks and Stalinists who went before, equality means equality of outcome. With an Orwellian wink, the "liberal" opponents of CCRI are really saying they want to force California to discriminate in order to end discrimination, in the interest of racial justice.

In an especially perceptive section, Horowitz examines the left's view of the right, and vice versa. People on the left often ask themselves how anyone can not be progressive and not be concerned with social justice and their attempts to better the world. Leftists conclude it is because "their conservative opponents are prisoners of a false consciousness that prevents them from recognizing human possibility . . . opposition to progressive agendas grows naturally from human selfishness, myopia and greed." People on the right look back at the leftists and ask, "How is it possible for progressives to remain so blind to the grim realities their efforts have produced. How can they overlook the crimes they have committed against the poor and oppressed they set out to defend?"

Horowitz suggests that this conflict of visions is rooted in a simple difference: the right attempts desperately to understand the left, but the left makes no comparable effort to understand the right. Indeed, it acts - in bad faith - to ignore and suppress scholarship and opinions that are critical of the left's ideology and historical legacy. Names such as von Mises, Hayek, Kirk, Sowell, Kristol, and Strauss are virtually unknown to the left and are systematically omitted from university curricula. In contrast, names like Marx, Heidegger, Galbraith, Chomsky, Foucault and other leftist intellectuals, while not household terms, are certainly familiar to the educated conservative.

Some people may wonder, why did Horowitz become a conservative, that is, why did he go from one political extreme to the other? In answer, Horowitz would probably deny that his brand of conservatism is "extreme" in any meaningful sense of that term. Essentially, Horowitz became a man of the right because conservatives adhere to two core principles -- the free market and limited government -- which history has vindicated as superior to socialist economic planning and Leviathan state power. Having been raised to believe that the path to communism led to justice, peace and plenty, Horowitz was a leftist. A lifelong process of learning made him a conservative. The Politics of Bad Faith is a memorable exploration into the reasons behind that transformation.

Among the many dozens of books I have read concerning our founders, their philosophies, their dreams and the various other aspects of our Republic and our Republican Form of Government promised in the Constitution. I find this book by David Horowitz to be perhaps one of the most impressive and educational justifications to abandon the liberal philosophy and move more in line with our founders. It is however, also among the three most difficult I have found to read, comprehend and reach the end of in one-piece. For there is on almost every page some interesting, informative and deep seated principle, piece of knowledge and insight that must be underlined or highlighted, slowing down the process considerably. And one must read with care not to miss the wealth of information in all these words of wisdom. Mr. Horowitz has done a superb job of bringing the reader into a better understanding of the failures of the Marx, Lenin, Stalin, Hitler and other philosophies of the extreme left and many of our left wing representives today. And how anyone who follows these failed policies and ideals must find excuses for the devastation and terrible toll they placed and still inflict upon the community of man. There are three main ideas that I perceived from David. First that the core principles of any political philosophies (in our case the right and left, Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and liberals) of the world, when taken to extremes, all converge at a point resulting in, Tyranny, Despotism, Communism and Slavery. And all these things should be shunned and avoided by Americans. Second that our childhood beliefs, which were to some extent in the past simple brainwashing by listening to our parents could be thrown off, once emancipated, if we chose to. Which David did not, until late in his lifetime after finding out some simple truths the hard way. Yet we also find that that condition has been changed now. And in our current society has become a form of government manipulation and brainwashing that continues on for an entire lifetime. Thereby making us slaves to the politically correct, the socialistic social workers and the puppeteers of an aristocratic political establishment that used handouts to enslave the people, and let us not forget the Media Moguls. Television or the visual screen in every home and movie theatre has become mans greatest enemy and will be the instrument of his downfall because our leaders did not regulate it's use and protect our values, character and virtues from it's assassinating effects. Our lack of vigilance has allowed us to become the underdogs in a struggle for true liberty and freedom, and we are loosing badly. And third that all these leftist philosophies lead to Slavery, and those so-called progressives are the architects of that condition. There are four kinds of people that will approach this book. The first will put it down after a few pages and say...boring! The second will put it down after falling asleep several times somewhere in its interior, due to the intensity and level of intellect of Mr. Horowitz insights. The third will read it and fail to get the point, refuse to get the point or rant and rave at him for being a traitor to their liberal causes. And the fourth will find this book invaluable for identifying the beginning and continuing causes for the liberal virus that infest the American Dream and the world. In any case a classic work by David Horowitz that should be on all reading list.

David Horowitz has done time at both ends of the political spectrum, and he's just the person to elaborate on the "theological" presuppositions of the Left. Readers of Paul Johnson's _Intellectuals_ will be unsurprised to learn that Horowitz finds a whole lotta claptrap clouding the minds of the secular Left. But his discussions of Leftist "messianism" are a fascinating and insightful dissection of the view that we can bring on the New Age ourselves "merely" by chucking tradition and the accumulated wisdom of our forebears and rebuilding human nature and human society from the ground up. The free market beats the muddle of the "planners" every time. Maybe such mitzvot/commandments as "You shall not murder, you shall not steal" really do represent indispensible "design parameters" for a sustainable human society, and it's not our job to undertake "redesigns?"

Being a staunch Libertarian who holds no truck with bureaucratic social engineering from either the Republican moralists or the Democratic PC crusaders, it is rare that a political screed holds up to the natural cynicism I bring to most reads of this sort. The vast majority are screaming, finger-pointing diatribes extolling the perfection of the authors' POV and the Satanic origin of his opponents'.

That said, I must hand Dr. Horowitz kudos of the grandest nature for his factual analysis of how our two major parties wound up where they are today. Committed Republicans can point to this clear and illustrative history of the Left and discover why they feel like they do; it is difficult to not jerk one's knees in reaction to some of the eyewitness accounts given here.
Committed Democrats can point to this clear and illustrative history of the Left and find their roots; a genaeology of their outlook helps clarify the causes of some of their actions and emotions.
Committed Libertarians, however, will still have a hard time explaining why Republicans are acting more like Democrats and Democrats often pretend to be Republicans; I wonder whether Horowitz is waxing nostalgic or prescient.

In any event, this is history that popular media will not provide. Likewise, I find it noteworthy that academic acquaintences who enjoy Horowitz will also discuss Lerner and Dershowitz equally openly. Not so for the establishment professorials I've known. For those reasons I lean more towards believing the content of this work. If, perhaps, those who disagree would explain their contention with fact and account instead of rhetorical pooh-poohs and the literary equivalent of rolling their eyes, acceptance might still be in question.

A critical examination of the substance of the work coupled with an arms-length perusal of the respective reactions convinces me that Horowitz speaks truthfully. Now, the question is where do we find anybody who can actually do with his presentations what needs to be done?

Horowitz is, as always, at his best. We are yet to see a Leftist confront him on an intellectual level. Every Left-wing criticism is filled with personal insult. The Left is yet to challenge Horowitz on the ideas that he raises, and argues, so powerfully and persuasively. This book is another example of Horowitz finding, and dissecting, the pathology of the socialist mindset. His eloquence and intellectual prowess are surpassed only by his intestinal fortitude. This is a must read.

This book gives an excellent historical perspective of the fall of communism. It also provides good documentation of the leftist slant in higher education today. Von Mises and Hayek, who predicted precisely the inevitable totalitarian results of communism, are invisible, while the pitiful, discredited hacks who championed communism are required reading. The book is somewhat repetitive, but one could argue that the main points need repetition, and Horowitz repeats them with style. I just wish he had focused a bit more on the less drastic forms of socialism.

In my youth, I loved stories of the protesting efforts of Jerry Rubin, Abbie Hoffman and their peers. But sadly, neither of those two lived long enough to arrive at a stable place where they could impact public dialog in a long term, positive way. David Horowitz however, has. As an ex-Left Wing extremist, he knows whereof he speaks.

If you ever felt strongly against the Vietnam War, or "Nukes" or "Corporate America" or feel strongly in favor of such things as "Gay Rights" or "the Environment", you should read this book.

Not that David will speak as expected on those topics (he doesn't). Rather, you should read this book because by following his crystal clear review of his own (and others) thoughts and actions as a Radical Leftie, you can more effectively vet your own thinking process in that area.

Protesting and railing against traditional things as a way of life all sounds well & good when you are doing it, but if you step back and study what's really driving the mind set of the people and leaders of the Left, you begin to recognize the pernicious and destructive undercurrent in Left Wing motivation. As I said in my title, David Horowitz has a powerful mind. Not only that, but his information is very accurate. Was it Jack Nicholson who (in a movie) said "You can't handle the truth!"?... Don't read this book if that's you.

This book did not just illuminate my mind, but touched my soul. An excellent writer like Horowitz can move those of us who are destined to ponder, (and are sometimes plagued by), the great questions of good, evil, Man, God, religions, philosophies, and their effects, to new dimensions of consciousness. I myself have never been attracted to Marxism, and could never understand anyone who was. To me, it never made any sense, seemed self-evidently repulsive, morally abhorrent, and opposed to everything in which I believed, having been raised on the Bible and then reading Ayn Rand. Until now, I never understood the minds of those who by Marxism's illusions are seduced, nor the heart of its core beliefs. I now know how radicals think, and have a deeper understanding of the other side, rather than a mere instinctive recoil. That my instincts have been right, will come as no surprise to conservatives and many moderately minded people, but will be denied by hard core liberals, which is one of Horowitz's central points: "There are none so blind as those who will not see." Liberals today still deny, obfuscate, distort, and twist their own perceptions in order to revive the socialist dream, even after the Nazi, Soviet, and worldwide Marxist disasters of the past two centuries. That the very ideas of socialism are malevolent, and responsible for the atrocities, not merely the failures of the implementers, is what Horowitz wants to stress. Those who predicted the obtained results long before they happened were not listened to--von Mises, Hayek, others. Outrageously, these and other classical thinkers(Smith, Friedman) are not required as part of college curriculums, but the Marxists, de Man, Gramsci, Foucoult, and their ilk rule in liberal arts departments. Why? Horowitz explains that if intellectuals were not blinded by their mystical, ego-bound delusions that they are the messiahs of the world, they would have recognized, not just the unpragmatism of socialism, but the evil of it long ago. There can never be equality of condition, even in a totalitarian state, because the equalizers must necessarily be exalted above the equalized, and pointing a gun, all the way. It was an Evil Empire! Anyway, Horowitz tells a particularly insightful story, having grown up as the child of disaffected Jews who became "revolutionary internationalists", living in New York. One not insignificant moment in his life was realizing the emptiness and emotional void at his father's funeral, which was attended by a handful of long time "comrades," who hardly knew him as a man at all, only as a Communist. In telling the story of his own conversion from radicalism, Horowitz goes deep into the minds and beliefs of those with whom he used to share the Marxist dream. I personally thought the chapter on the religious roots of socialism particularly fascinating. One cannot talk about the Left and the origins of their ideology,(it is still Marxist socialism, masquerading under the benign-sounding names of "progressivism", "liberalism," "feminism", "egalitarianism") without also talking about Judaism, non-Jewish Jews, and "exile." Rabbi Daniel Lapin's book, "America's Real War," also helps illuminate the Left today. I found Horowitz's chapter on what really happened when the AIDS epidemic hit particularly reavealing. It was another shocking example of how saving "the revolution" was more important to liberals than saving lives.

Horowitz is at his intellectual best as he skewers the Left for its colossal deceits. A century of blood, famine, gulags, and philosophical failure should be enough to convince even the truest believers in progressivism that something is awry with their Leftist plan for humanity. Very quickly Horowitz shows us the errors in our thinking. Just because Utopia doesn't work doesn't mean that those who follow its mystical idealism won't continue to bang their collective heads on the proverbial wall.

Intellect is not relevant where huge amounts of energy are spent on blocking and denying reality. Horowitz catalogues his forays against this logic-tight mindset. As one might suspect the roots of this thinking find themselves in the dogma of religion. Greed and personal self-interest are bad, and altruistic sharing is good. The fact that this is counterintuitive, from the standpoint of reality and historical experience is lost on the zealots. They often refuse to debate, that is they won't agree on definitions and the confines of deductive reasoning; thus they argue in Bad Faith. Hence, "the Politics of Bad Faith" is an apt phrase for delineating their upside-down philosophy.

Nothing much can be done to breach this impasse unless all parties retain an open mind to new information. Unfortunately, worldviews are seldom changed and too many go through life on intellectual cruise control, secure in the soundness of their ideology. It's reflected in a song of the 60's, Horowitz's own Leftist heyday, "Blowin' in the Wind". Listen to it again and see what I mean. This is a good book, but you won't see it reviewed and discussed on the major networks or in the major print media. Horowitz needs a new plan to bring his thinking to the downtrodden. Stay tuned.

Immediately when i began this book, I realized that my thoughts about communism, liberalism, and honesty in life were at a crossroads and I was never to look back. This book reads like a provocative, telling, convincing memoir that should be appreciated. Horowitz bears his soul about his family life, his past, and where it has led him today. I was addicted. I'm enthralled that there was such an expose on the roots of radicalism, and it has convincing power to state boldly that, yes, the theory and practice of "social justice" is indeed a religion. It is an unholy religion and unworthy of the potential of humankind. This book was the beginning for me in my self-education with subjects that i know I will not be taught in school. Now that I have gone back, I feel more empowered, confident, and humbled in the knowlegde that the great Horowitz pours out to anybody who will carefully look at it. Remember, the TEXT, along with the subject matter should be critiqued, not devalued BECAUSE of the subject matter. David makes his case clear and powerful, challenging all his readers to rethink matters and causes that have stormed through our history and prevail today. If the bath house portion of the book was "homophobia" as one reviewer put it, why did those who resisted shutting them down acknowledge the pandemic and epidemic which would kill many of them and laugh and spit in the face of it? Therin lies the carelessness and the apathy towards them. Therein lies true homophobia, which has killed tens of thousands more than any homophobic lynching, unless we're talking about the Muslim extremists. But we're not. We're talking about America. I would urge anybody to carefully examine this book!