Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Liberty and Tyranny Review


I just finished Mark Levin's book Liberty and Tyranny and found it a sober and intelligent look at conservatism and liberalism in America today.

Mr. Levin, a fire-brand radio talk show host and constitutional lawyer, discusses the nuts and bolts of both philosophies, their origins and their aims in American society. Since the book is a "conservative manifesto", liberalism is not shone in a beneficent light in the book, to say the least.


The book is well researched, thoroughly referenced, and its depth and discussion of core human interrelational concepts will lend it staying power in the political/philosophical realm for years, perhaps decades to come. It has shown its staying power on the New York Times bestseller list as the best-selling nonfiction hard cover book for most of the last three months.

One thing which I did not agree with in the book was the introduction of a new term for someone of liberal philosophy -- "statist". The term feels unnatural and clunky, and is an unnecessary refinement of terminology.

One memorable section of the book lists all of the maladies caused by global warming (a big liberal cause celebre). It is pages long and in small type and true. Global warming acolytes blame every insignificant shift from the norm on human caused global warming. It is stunning, and almost funny, to see the extent of it printed in a book.

What is not funny is the control of our lives that will be lost as global warming legislation passes in governments all over the world. It is a vehicle for greater taxation and greater tyranny.

The book Liberty and Tyranny displays with forceful example that no one can (or should) remain a fence-sitter, or apolitical in this day and age in America. Nearly every facet of our lives is affected in some way by government bureaucracy, policy, law, and taxation handed down by school boards, home owner's associations, town councils, state governments, and the federal government.

Not a difficult read, nor long either, at the very least the book should inspire citizens to vote more often and armed with knowledge based on facts.

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