Framing the Dialogue

“That some should be rich shows that others may become rich, and hence is just encouragement to industry and enterprise.  Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another; but let him labor diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall be safe from violence when built.”

                                          Abraham Lincoln

Mark R. Levin’s “conservative manifesto” spent many weeks on the New York Times bestseller list.  It may have been the biggest selling book that the MSM ignored, at least since the last best-selling conservative book that the MSM ignored.  It is very interesting how conservative books find there way to the back shelves. 

One the things that I observe is how retail stores like Costco, Sam’s Club, Wal-Mart and others display conservative books.  While Liberty and Tyranny was the number one best selling book in the nation, I could not find it at these three stores.  They still had both copies of Obama’s autobiographies, but not the Numer One Best Selling Book in the country.  Maybe they sold out of them?  You would think that they would want to have them on hand.

Liberty and Tyranny would be a great book for a citizen who is one the verge of throwing off the yoke of liberalism or as I call it, awakening.  Levin sprinkles in enough history to remind Americans of the foundation of the United States.  Unfortunately, many may find that this is the first time exposed to our founding principles.

“The Founders understood that the greatest threat to liberty is an all-powerful central government, where the few dictate to the many.  They also knew that the rule of the mob would lead to anarchy and, in the end, despotism.”

Levin’s manifesto is not really a left-right or democrat-republican piece.  The message is more basic in that all politicians and their ilk are pushing us toward a larger, bigger, intrusive, more oppressive central government.  Americans seem to accept this since it is to our perceived benefit.  We all want our piece of the pie. 

“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive…those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their on conscience.”

                                                                  C.S. Lewis

Levin introduces a term that I had not heard used before.  The “Statist” “believes in the supremacy of the state…the individual’s imperfection and personal pursuits impede the objective of a utopian state.”  Essentially the Statist requires more and more power, authority, or money in the quest for utopia.  Their failures are never the fault of their theories or programs; the failures are the result that they did not have enough power, authority, or money.  They did not do enough.

Levin also takes on the environmentalists’ high priestess, Rachel Carson.  Her book, Silent Spring, sparked an environmental movement that still has momentum.  Criticism of Carson’s theories is tantamount to treason in most communities.  Levin lays out the effect of the resulting ban on DDT.  No longer in use to control mosquitoes, malaria has spread throughout the third world.  Even with all of the talk about the AIDS epidemic in Africa, malaria is the number one killer of children

I find it interesting when I see celebrities asking for donations to purchase nets for people to limit exposure to mosquitoes.  For only 20 dollars, you can purchase a net for an African child.  I only saw this as a very limited solution unless they were in the nets 24/7.  How much DDT could you buy for that same $20?  The question that is never asked of elitist environmentalists is whether the ban on DDT is worth the tens of millions of people who have died from malaria since its ban.

Levin provides a Conservative Manifesto in his closing pages.  He espouses many of the usual founding principles.  It is great to read, but I feel a loss that we do not have a Ronald Reagan to lead us.  I have to admit that I do not see any figure that can fill this role.

Pick up a copy of Liberty and read it.

 “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.  We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream.  It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”

                                                               President Ronald Reagan