Customer Reviews

Toward Liberty: The Idea That Is Changing the World

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

 

 

This book is a collection of some of the best speeches, public policy reports, and articles published by The Cato Institute in its twenty five years of existence. It has been edited by David Boaz, executive vp of Cato and author and editor of several other books regarding libertarianism. Cato is a public policy institute headquartered in DC that promotes limited government, free markets, peaceful coexistence and a return to the rule of law as envisioned by our founders, especially Madison and Jefferson. While this political philsophy is generally known as libertarianism, it is more correctly labeled the dominance of civil rather than political society. As a disclaimer, this reviewer has been a member of the Board of Directors of Cato for fifteen years and regards David Boaz as a friend; however, those who know me will vouch that I have been an vocal critic of Cato on those occasions where I have disagreed with its policy positions. Therefore, despite my position, I believe that my review provides a useful summary of this book.

The editor provides an introduction which attempts to summarize the changes in the political landscape over the past quarter century and concludes that classical liberalism is on the ascendancy after a century of many failed experiments in statism.The book is then divided into nine topics with several selections for each topic - these are Ideas and Consequences (3 articles), Economic Growth (3 articles), The Welfare State (5), The Regulatory State (4), A World In Transition (11), Foreign Affairs (4), Trade And international Finance (4), Law And Liberty (8), and Democracy And Culture (8). Read in order, which few readers will probably do due to both time constaints and lack of interest in some of the topics, the book provides both a wonderful retrospective on the changes in the political debate over the past twenty five years and also serves as a comprehensive overview of the relevance of these ideas today. The authors include such well known figures as Milton Friedman, Alan Greenspan, an interview with F.A. Hayek, Dick Armey, Lord Peter Bauer, Jose Pinera and Antonin Scalia, but regardless of the fame of the author all pieces are both enlightening and intellectually stimulating. P.J O'Rourke's brief comments at the dedication of Cato's current headquarters, titled "THe Right To Do As You Please And Take The Consequences" even adds some trenchant and well directed wit to the collection. The longest piece is only fourteen pages and several are only three pages in lenghth, so while some of the topics are difficult if the ideas are new to the reader any can be digested in a single session.

It is impossible to chose a few favorites, although I thought the strongest topic was the collection regarding law and liberty; perhaps that is only due to my intense interest in the area and my belief that a return to the Constitutional protections of life, liberty and property are essential to our continued freedom. And I do strongly recommend that everyone read the article by Scalia (as a judge on the Court of Appeals) and the brilliant critique and reply by Ricahard Epstein. For some added flavor, some of the other articles include "The Case For US Stategic Independence" (Ted Carpenter), "Myths Of Individualism" (Tom Palmer), "Are Libertarians Anti-Government" (David Boaz), and "Enviro-Capitalism Vs. Enviro-Statism" (Terry Anderson and Donald Leal).

In conclusion, this book is for anyone who cares about the advancement of liberty and wants to sharpen their understanding of the topics which it covers. If you want to understand these ideas, whether to argue for or against them, there is no comparable collection that covers them so succinctly and states them so well by their most ardent proponents. N.B., the book is 460 pages long, not the 250 indicated in the description, and all the material is worthwhile but it is a long read that has to be accomplished gradually.

Boaz has assembled a very fine collection of essays regarding liberty and the failings of modern societies to create a world in which we can live as free men. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone remotely interested in libertarian (or for that matter free market or conservative) political thought.

Just to tone down my entheusiasm a bit, though, I would add that many of the essays may seem a little elementary to someone who has been reading libertarian publications for a long time. But on the whole, this is a solid, highly readable work full of ammunition for your libertarian debating arsenal.

Usually this would warrant a four-star because I found perhaps 1/5th of the essays pretty lame/repetitive however the very fact that the other papers were so good and relevent/enlightening years after they were written warranted the make-up point IMO.

It's interesting to see the papers on foreign relations pre-9/11, the papers on privatization of various major Guv'ment spending programs, etc. all written WELL before most of the media started talking about it.

While I don't agree with some of the papers all-together (drug papers for example) I find myself in agreement and understanding positions better than I did before. And further research online filled in the minor gaps from the last papers (circa late 00) to now.

Very nice volume. Very nice. -Ali

David Boaz has created a cross section of world renowned free thinkers writing on a wide enough range of issues that there is something for almost everyone remotely interested in politics, government, and economics. Even if you are not a libertarian, you will find a wealth of eye opening information and arguments about all the subjects covered in the volume. However, this is clearly not a book for the unpolitical, it may be for the apathetic, but not the unpolitical.