Books – “Liberty and Tyranny”

It’s not often that a book of political philosophy leaps to the top of the bestseller list.  Mark Levin’s Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto is an exception, for good reason.

Written in the form of a philosophical treatise, but in an easily readable style, Liberty and Tyranny explores what conservatives (or Levin’s view of conservatives) believe – and why.  If Locke and Burke had possessed Levin’s stylistic abilities, the Second Treatise of Government and Reflections on the Revolution in France would still be at the top of the perennial best seller list.

True to his Reaganite roots, Levin’s definition of conservatism is one that emphasizes a Burkean view of ordered liberty:

Conservatism is a way of understanding life, society, and governance.  The Founders were heavily influenced by certain philosophers, among them Adam Smith (spontaneous order), Charles Montesquieu (separation of powers), and especially John Locke (natural rights);  they were also influenced by their faiths, personal experiences, and knowledge of history (including the rise and fall of the Roman Empire).  Edmund Burke, who was both a British statesman and thinker, is often said to be the father of modern conservatism.  He was an early defender of the American Revolution and advocate of representative government.  He wrote of the interconnection of liberty, free markets, religion, tradition, and authority.  The Conservative, like the Founders, is informed by all of these great thinkers — and more.

Levin, a syndicated talk radio host and president of the Landmark Legal Foundation, is a veteran of the Reagan administration.  In the vernacular of the 1976 and 1980 campaigns, he’s “one of us”.  Yet, Levin is too smart to claim that he speaks for all who call themselves a conservative.  Like his philosophical ancestors, Levin sets out to explain WHAT he believes … and WHY.

As F. A. Hayek noted in The Road to Serfdom (and other works), what we tend to call a “liberal” is anything but.  While Hayek was a liberal in the classical sense, Levin asserts a conservatism with its roots in The Federalist and Edmund Burke.  Levin prefers to discuss modern liberals (or “progressives”) in terms of what they are — Statists, those who believe in a utopian collective rather than the supremacy of the individual governed by faith, reason, reality, and ordered liberty.

While every chapter in Liberty and Tyranny provides valuable lessons as to why conservatism should be the dominant political philosophy throughout the globe, Levin’s explanation of radical environmentalism (“Enviro-Statism) and its impact on our liberty and our economy is worth special note.  Given that the US House has just passed one of the most radical measures in our country’s history — the infamous Cap & Tax bill — we may see this radical agenda begin bearing heavy fruit for all those who wish to dictate everything from what kind of car we drive to how much electric power we can use.

Radical environmentalism particularly in the form of purported global warming, is a core method for the Statist to achieve his ultimate goal – POWER.  By claiming that our very lives are at risk, the Statist believes that more Americans will be willing to abdicate their God-given liberty:

With the assistance of a pliant or sympathetic media, the Statist uses junk science, misrepresentations, and fear-mongering to promote public health and environmental scares, because he realizes that in a true, widespread health emergency, the public expects the government to act aggressively to address the crisis, despite traditional limitations on governmental authority.  The more dire the threat, the more liberty people are usually willing to surrender.

Personally, I was most impressed by Levin’s take on Federalism, Constitutional originalism, and the proper place of religious faith in relation to our government.  Levin convincingly argues that originalism is the only valid means of interpreting our Constitution.  Simply put, it either means what it says … or it doesn’t.  While Statist jurists such as Stephen Breyer have gone so far as to use FOREIGN law as a justification towards a particular result, the originalist jurist relies on the rule of law rather than a hoped for result.  As Hayek, and Frederic Bastiat before him, has so eloquently pointed out, a free society cannot exist without that rule of law.

If you are a veteran reader of Delmarva Dealings you may have noted that I have a particular concern with certain views that have been labeled as “socially conservative”.  What was once a reaction to leftist attacks on the religious liberty of those of us who adhere to a more orthodox Judeo-Christian world view, has been turned by some into the mirror image of what we claim to despise.  While no Statist would dare accept Levin’s ideas of the relationship between faith and government, those who have adopted a view that borders on theocracy would be wise to consider Levin’s arguments if they truly respect the liberty which we all claim to believe in, and which God endowed us with.

Mark Levin’s latest effort should be read by all.  Then, it should be placed on that shelf reserved for books which are to re-read, and often.

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