Well, I am about half way through my second "reading" (actually, I have been listening on my iPod) of "Liberty and Tyranny". What an outstanding book Levine has written! I do hope others will take the time to read this. It is probably one of the best and most logical books ever written detailing the principles of Conservatism and the moral and Constitutional underpinnings of the USA and of civil society.
I do not intend to open this general topic or any specific topic in the book up for forum debate here and now. I only ask that those who know or think they know something of constitutional law and US history, or those who want to know more and perhaps thereby understand Conservatism vs modern Liberalism (a misnomer better called "Statism" according to Levine) and thereby perhaps better understand your own political thoughts and positions, to give it a read.
Levine is a Conservative author who brings the works and philosophies of Adam Smith, Edmund Burke, James Monroe, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Ronald Regain and C. F. Lewis (to drop just a few names who find their way into the book) to life in modern and easily understandable language, and in a refreshing, thoughtful manner, as compared to other "political" books of our time. Thanks.
Mark Levine: Liberty and Tyranny, a Conservative Manifesto
TEC
From the back cover:
"The world has never had a good definition of the word liberty, and the American people, just now, are much in want of one. We all declare for liberty; but in using the same word we do not all mean the same thing. With some the word liberty may mean for each man to do as he pleases with himself, and the product of his labor; while with others the same word may mean for some men to do as they please with other men, and the product of other men's labor. Here are two, not only different, but incompatable things, called by the same name---liberty. And it follows that each of the things is, by the respective parties, called by two different and incompatable names---liberty and tyranny." Abraham Lincoln