Customer Reviews

Thrust For Freedom : An Introduction to Volitional Science (Volitional Science Library)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've found this book to be a good introduction to Galambos' ideas about free enterprise and capitalism as the alternative to the coercive state. He starts with an expanded definition of property that includes intellectual property and then derives a framework for society based on contractual relationships between property owners. It's seems counterintuitive at first but the more you think about his concepts, the more persuasive his ideas become and the result is a "turning around", or revolution, in the way you view society and government. Galambos taught a series of courses verbally and most of the record of his ideas is on audio tape or transcriptions of audio tapes and not generally available; this book contains many of his ideas written in his own concise style and is much more representitive of his logical approach to society's problems than the transcriptions, which tend to ramble by comparison. The book, at a hundred pages, is a relatively easy read, and a good introduction to what Galambos calls "Volitional Science". The only reason I didn't give this book five stars is that additional material is interleaved from some of the transcriptions, and while the editor did a fine job of choosing related excerpts from other material by Galambos, the overall flow is weakened because the audio material is simply not as compelling as the material Galambos wrote directly.

Who should purchase this book?

Well, one would think that after thousands of years someone must have exerted their focus in life to pursuit of the kind of society that is durable and stable. I do not mean perfect or ideal. Those are impossible solutions. Noone is perfect and nothing is ideal. Mr. Galambos had devoted a great portion of his life to this pursuit. Thrust for Freedom is a brief synopsis of the durable and stable societal structure that many of us only suspect is possible, but do not know how to achieve. It's called Freedom and Mr. Andrew J. Galambos has provided the Thrust to achieve it.

The question is rather asked: Who should NOT purchase this book?

This book finally gets down in a convenient, concise and accessible format the key ideas that Andrew J. Galambos first developed 35 years ago in Southern California. If you call yourself a Libertarian, then this is the book for you, as you'll see where many of the current ideas in Libertarianism originally came from, but without the distortions that have been introduced over the years. Galambos explains how human rights and property rights need not be in conflict with the proper understanding of what property is. I highly recommend this book. The only problem is on the very last page where some kind of feeble attempt at marketing a larger work, Sic Itur Ad Astra, was undertaken in a very awkward way. Personally, I find that I can open to any page (except the last one!) and find something inspiring.

Although, in the preface, the author boldly mentions how the reader may pay additional gratuity if the book is found to be especially worthwhile, he makes no mention of how to obtain a full refund.For someone who makes explicit claims toward precision, Galambos' much-celebrated concepts are fuzzy and defined in terms of non-essentials (as if he were inspired by Rand but never paid any particular attention to her). Discussion of each definition consists of a string of true propositions, interspersed with jokey asides, which haven't been assembled into a chain of argument, and which rarely include reference to evidence, except in the most general way. Perhaps these shortcomings could be blamed on sloppy editing, and perhaps Sic Itur Ad Astra is much better. I'll never know.If you're looking for a book on liberty with stunning arguments, why not try Spooner? If you're looking for a book on liberty with a novel historical perspective, why not try Nock?

This is a book of Western Greek-style definitions intended to separate the defined from the remainder of the Universe, without poetry. Contrast the scientific nature of these definitions and postulates to the Eastern Hebrew description using allusion, metaphor, poetry, and the dynamic tension of holding qualities such as hell as a place of darkness and also a place of fire. Our inherited Greek culture is knowledge based with logic and reason; Hebrew culture is wisdom based with intuition and insight. May the fallacy of the false alternative be avoided in the study of these outstanding and great advances by Professor Galambos.