|
|
Freedom Book of the Month for October, 2003:
"Healing Our World in an Age of Aggression"
by Mary J Ruwart
SunStar, 2003, paper, 435 pp.
"Liberals just can't be brought to libertarianism." I've lost count of how many times I've read or heard this assertion over the years. And it's just as absurd every time I've seen it, no matter how it's been presented.
Now, it's true that many libertarians find more common ground among conservatives than liberals, but I know of many who've made the transition from leftist to pro-freedom -- I even helped bring along a chap whose grandfather was a good Soviet Communist Party member, and whose father was an American communist. It can be difficult for those who are more comfortable with logic and analysis to try to sway someone who values emotions and feelings. Fortunately, freedom lovers now have a potent weapon that ought to work well at persuading statists of either stripe.
That weapon is Mary Ruwart's third edition of her book, Healing Our World in an Age of Aggression. Calling it a third edition really doesn't do the book justice, however. It's completely reworked from the previously published Healing Our World, and offers an annihilation of just about every justification for the state that's ever been claimed. The annihilation is so thoughtful and gentle that those swayed by emotion likely won't notice their sacred oxen being gored. It's also so thoroughly reasoned that those persuaded by logic will find little to quibble about.
Ruwart begins with a purely libertarian idea -- the non-aggression principle -- and presents it as the Good Neighbor Policy. She shows how it can be applied in the gamut of human interactions, through cogent examples, clear text, and pointed cartoons. Sprinkled throughout the book, my favorite cartoons are the ones that label an individual's aggressive action as "illegal", but when the "Guns of Government" get involved, the activity is "legal". These cartoons ought to be digitized (if they aren't already) and widely distributed, perhaps as a . Think of the lovely posters to be made for April 15 protests ...
Organized into five sections, with headers taken from the Lord's Prayer, Healing Our World in an Age of Aggression covers the spectrum of important issues, from poverty to health care, from fractional reserve banking to international economics and militarism. Throughout, in clear, measured language that is neither condescending nor dumbed down, Ruwart shows how violations of the Good Neighbor Policy cause problems.
While the message is clearly anarchist to those familiar with the freedom philosophy, Ruwart avoids all such scary-sounding terms and focuses on her message: what the state does is bad. Of course, that means that the state itself is bad, but because that's a scary idea to those who believe government is here to help us, it's left to the reader to make that inference. While some may fault Ruwart for pulling back, it seems rather a very smart strategy. Not everyone will be ready to accept that conclusion, despite its truth, and to force an unwilling reader is to possibly close a mind.
Besides, it leaves us foot soldiers plenty of room to help individuals see that Healing Our World in an Age of Aggression is all about freedom. And that's what we ought to do. Clearly and beautifully, Mary Ruwart puts a very human face and a positive tone on libertarianism. Without compromising a single principle, or muddling or backpedaling on any issue, she presents the whole of the freedom philosophy in a way that can reach any thinking, caring person. Although geared toward American society and laws, its message is nonetheless applicable worldwide.
If you buy any freedom-oriented book to share with nonlibertarians in hopes of persuading them, buy Healing Our World in an Age of Aggression. If Ruwart's clear, gentle prose doesn't work, the wide-ranging quotations liberally sprinkled throughout the margins will at least get people thinking. And, if there is any justice in this world, Mary Ruwart will one day be recognized as the preeminent ambassador of peace and liberty of our time.
Order from Laissez Faire Books, $19.95
edited by Sunni Maravillosa
September 2003: Hecate's Glory by Karen Michalson
August 2003: The Bias Against Guns by John R Lott Jr
July 2003: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
June 2003: Eco-nomics by Richard L. Stroup
May 2003: The Worm in the Apple by Peter Brimelow
April 2003: Shattered Dreams by NCPPR staff
March 2003: The Rule of Lawyers by Walter K. Olson
February 2003: Global Warming and Other Eco-Myths, edited by Ronald Bailey
Freedom Book of the Year 2002: The Ballad of Carl Drega by Vin Suprynowicz
December 2002: Blood of the Roses, by Alex Gabbard
November 2002: The Ultimate Foundation of Economic Science, by Ludwig von Mises
October 2002: The Haunted Air, by F. Paul Wilson
September 2002: Lead Astray and Out of Bounds, Out of Control by Peter Samuel and James V. DeLong respectively
August 2002: Boston's Gun Bible II by Boston T. Party
July 2002: Economics for Real People by Gene Callahan
June 2002: Net Assets by Carl Bussjaeger
May 2002: The Ballad of Carl Drega by Vin Suprynowicz
April 2002: Toward Liberty: The Idea that is Changing the World edited by David Boaz
March 2002: Liberty for Women edited by Wendy McElroy
February 2002: The State vs. the People by Aaron Zelman and Claire Wolfe
Freedom Book of the Year, 2001: Hope by Aaron Zelman and L. Neil Smith
January 2002: Death by Gun Control by Aaron Zelman and Richard W. Stevens
December 2001: The American Zone by L. Neil Smith
November 2001: Ayn Rand and Business by Donna Greiner and Theodore Kinni
October 2001: Junk Science Judo by Steven J. Milloy
September 2001: Jonathan Gullible by Ken Schoolland
August 2001: Hope by L. Neil Smith and Aaron Zelman
July 2001: Dissenting Electorate edited by Wendy McElroy and Carl Watner
June 2001: Tethered Citizens by Sheldon Richman
May 2001: Lever Action by L. Neil Smith
April 2001: The Cato Handbook for Congress from the Cato Institute
March 2001: The Contested Legacy of Ayn Rand by David Kelley
February 2001: Crypto by Steven Levy
January 2001: Total Freedom by Chris Matthew Sciabarra
Freedom Book of the Year 2000: Forge of the Elders by L. Neil Smith
December 2000: The Mystery of Capital by Hernando de Soto
November 2000: Escape from Leviathan by J.C. Lester
October 2000: The Art of Political War by David Horowitz
September 2000: An Enemy of the State by Justin Raimondo
August 2000: The Triumph of Liberty by Jim Powell
July 2000: A Generation Divided by Rebecca Klatch
June 2000: Law's Order by David Friedman
May 2000: Forge of the Elders by L. Neil Smith
April 2000: Reciprocia by Richard G. Rieben
March 2000: The Art of Fiction: A Guide for Writers and Readers by Ayn Rand
February 2000: Addiction is a Choice by Jeffrey A. Schaler
January 2000: Revolutionary Language by David C. Calderwood
Special December 1999 Feature: The Freedom Book of the Year: Send in the Waco Killers: Essays on the Freedom Movement, 1993-1998 by Vin Suprynowicz
November 1999: Conquests and Cultures by Thomas Sowell
October 1999: A Way To Be Free by Robert LeFevre, edited by Wendy McElroy
September 1999: Assassins (Left Behind) by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins
August 1999: Don't Shoot the Bastards (Yet): 101 More Ways to Salvage Freedom by Claire Wolfe
July 1999: The Mitzvah by L. Neil Smith and Aaron Zelman
June 1999: The Incredible Bread Machine by R.W. Grant
May 1999: Send in the Waco Killers by Vin Suprynowicz
April 1999: It Still Begins with Ayn Rand by Jerome Tuccille
March 1999: The Dictionary of Free-Market Economics by Fred Foldvary
February 1999: Feminist Interpretations of Ayn Rand edited by Mimi Reisel Gladstein and Chris Matthew Sciabarra
In December 2004 this page was modified significantly from its original form for archiving purposes.
, founded in 1995, is now a part of ISIL.
 |