Customer Reviews

Social Problems in a Free Society: Myths, Absurdities, and Realities

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It has been said, "freedom isn't free". This is never more true than in a free society where it can be expanded to say, "with freedom comes responsibility". Kelleher builds upon this in his book by explaining that there are two kinds of "freedom". There is freedom in the libertarian sense, which we might call "freedom from". This "freedom from" includes freedom from infringement upon property rights, freedom from violence of our fellow humans, freedom from government usurpation of rights, etc. The Bill of rights in the U.S. Constitution lays out many of these freedoms. It is worth noting that all of these freedoms are basically a limitation of outside interference on the individual. Kelleher goes to tell us there is another kind of "freedom" that has crept into our society. It is the "freedom to". There is now the freedom to have affordable housing, the freedom to be fed, the freedom to have health care, or to an education.

The author explains with clarity that trying to implement both types of freedom comes with accompanying problems due to the fact that these two freedoms are mutually exclusive. To provide someone with a freedom to affordable housing, the wealth used to give it must be taken from someone whether they want to give it up or not. Thus, we see that any transfer of wealth to provide a "freedom to" is an imposition on the rights of a person who has a "freedom from". We can see the "freedom from" rights are inherent in the constitution and require a passive government, while the "freedom to" rights are manufactured by the social system and require the active interference of government and coercive force.

Kelleher uses this concept and many others to take a whole new approach to social problems. His book is packed full of ideas and analysis about modern American sociology that will leave the casual reader in awe and the attentive student considering new perspectives.

Kelleher's book provides a sound understanding of what it means to have a free society, how it should work, how to identity inherent problems and how to correct those problems. The reader will come away with a truer understanding of what freedom is, or should be, and how to maintain it.

Monty Rainey
www.juntosociety.com