Cover image © Onischenko Natalya / Shutterstock Cover design by Liz Mills Cover design © Prometheus Books Inquiries should be addressed to Prometheus Books 59 John Glenn Drive Amherst, New York 14228 VOICE: 716–691–0133 The inclusion of a website does not indicate an endorsement by the author or by Prometheus Books, and Prometheus Books does not guarantee the accuracy of the information presented at these sites. The internet addresses listed in the text were accurate at the time of publication. Prometheus Books recognizes all registered trademarks, trademarks, and service marks mentioned in the text. Trademarked names appear throughout this book. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, digital, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, or conveyed via the internet or a website without prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Published 2019 by Prometheus Books The Free Society in Crisis: A History of Our Times. TRANSLATED BY DAVID SELBOURNE The City of Light Hearkening back to the aspirations and largely-forgotten writings of America's founding fathers, the book concludes by pointing to the principles of what the author calls the "true commonwealth" as an alternative to today's political, ethical, and social disorders.ĪLSO BY DAVID SELBOURNE An Eye to China An Eye to India Through the Indian Looking-Glass In Theory and in Practice The Making of A Midsummer Night's Dream Against Socialist Illusion Left Behind: Journeys into British Politics Death of the Dark Hero: Eastern Europe 1987–90 The Spirit of the Age Not an Englishman: Conversations with Lord Goodman The Principle of Duty: An Essay on the Foundations of the Civic Order Moral Evasion The Losing Battle with IslamĮDITED BY DAVID SELBOURNE A Doctor's Life By the same token, a society that routinely sacrifices equality of opportunity and economic fairness to the forces of the global marketplace creates dangerous tensions between the few haves and the many have-nots. A society consisting of isolated individuals focused solely on personal rights with no regard for the foundation of their freedoms will soon see that foundation crumble through neglect. In the wake of these destructive tends, this book reminds us that personal well-being is dependent in large part upon the maintenance of a coherent civic and moral order. The result of such ultra-individualism in economic and moral practice is the malaise we find ourselves in today: a lost sense of place, community, and belonging, as well as dismissiveness and unawareness of the lessons of the past. Moral free-choice, the other side of the coin, is the notion of individual rights without any sense of civic responsibility. Market free-choice is the prevailing economic ideology that gives free reign to market forces, even when they ride roughshod over communities and whole nations. How stable are free societies today? This book argues that they are under threat from "market free-choice" and "moral free-choice," two sides of the same coin that between them, the author warns, threaten to tear civil society apart. Critiquing assumptions on both the left and the right, noted historian of ideas and political theorist David Selbourne stresses the importance of shared community and civic duty.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |