New Threats to Freedom
Details and Description
Description
In the twentieth century, free people faced a number of mortal threats, ranging from despotism, fascism, and communism to the looming menace of global terrorism. While the struggle against some of these overt dangers continues, some insidious new threats seem to have slipped past our intellectual defenses. These new threats are quietly eroding our hard-won freedoms, often unchallenged and, in some cases, widely accepted as beneficial.
In New Threats to Freedom, editor and author Adam Bellow has assembled an all-star lineup of innovative thinkers to challenge these insidious new threats. Some leap into already raging debates on issues such as Sharia law in the West, the rise of transnationalism, and the regulatory state. Others turn their attention to less obvious threats, such as the dogma of fairness, the failed promises of the blogosphere, and the triumph of behavioral psychology.
These threats are very real and very urgent, yet this collection avoids projecting an air of doom and gloom. Rather, it provides a blueprint for intellectual resistance so that modern defenders of liberty may better understand their enemies, more effectively fight to preserve the meaning of freedom, and more surely carry its light to a new generation.
Contributors include: Anne Applebaum, Bruce Bawer, Peter Berkowitz, Max Borders, Richard A. Epstein, Jessica Gavora, Michael Goodwin, Daniel Hannan, Alexander Harrington, Mark Helprin, Christopher Hitchens, Robert D. Kaplan, James Kirchick, Greg Lukianoff, Barry C. Lynn, David Mamet, Katherine Mangu-Ward, Tara McKelvey, Mark T. Mitchell, Michael C. Moynihan, Chris Norwood, Glenn Harlan Reynolds, Naomi Schaefer Riley, Christine Rosen, Ron Rosenbaum, Stephen Schwartz, Lee Siegel, Christina Hoff Sommers, Shelby Steele, and Dennis Whittle.
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Table of Contents
Introduction • Where Have All the Grown-ups Gone? / ix
Adam Bellow
1. The Decline of American Press Freedom / 3
Anne Applebaum
2. The Closing of the Liberal Mind / 14
Bruce Bawer
3. The New Dogma of Fairness / 24
Peter Berkowitz
4. The Urge to Regulate / 35
Max Borders
5. The Isolation of Today’s Classical Liberal / 46
Richard A. Epstein
6. Single Women as a Threat to Freedom / 56
Jessica Gavora
7. The Loss of the Freedom to Fail / 67
Michael Goodwin
8. The European Union as a Threat to Freedom / 76
Daniel Hannan
9. Bad Political Theatre / 87
Alexander Harrington
10. The Rise of Antireligious Orthodoxy / 98
Mark Helprin
11. Multiculturalism and the Threat of Conformity / 110
Christopher Hitchens
12. The Tyranny of the News Cycle / 119
Robert D. Kaplan
13. Transnational Progressivism / 126
James Kirchick
14. Students against Liberty? / 137
Greg Lukianoff
15. Belief in False Gods / 147
Barry C. Lynn
16. The Fairness Doctrine / 152
David Mamet
17. The War on Negative Liberty / 162
Katherine Mangu-Ward
18. The Abandonment of Democracy Promotion / 171
Tara McKelvey
19. Ingratitude and the Death of Freedom / 181
Mark T. Mitchell
20. The Anticapitalists / 189
Michael C. Moynihan
21. The Rise of Mass Dependency / 199
Chris Norwood
22. Liberty and Complacency / 211
Glenn Harlan Reynolds
23. Threats to Philanthropic Freedom / 220
Naomi Schaefer Riley
24. The New Behaviorists / 230
Christine Rosen
25. Cyber-Anonymity / 240
Ron Rosenbaum
26. Shariah in the West / 248
Stephen Schwartz
27. Participatory Culture and the Assault on Democracy / 259
Lee Siegel
28. The U.N. Women’s Treaty as a Threat to Freedom / 268
Christina Hoff Sommers
29. The Illusion of Innocence / 280
Shelby Steele
30. Orthodoxy and Freedom in International Aid / 290
Dennis Whittle
List of Contributors / 301
Endorsements and Reviews
Reviews
The American Spectator--Online Review--April 19, 2011
The 30 contributors to Bellow’s collection of brief essays grapple head-on with various American freedoms and how fragile they are. The arguments deal with new ways of understanding freedom and the counter-forces at work to undermine them, more often from within than from outside … Bellow has assembled an A-list of commentators.
DWD's Reviews
Essays such as Greg Lukianoff's "Students Against Liberty?" was very thought provoking. The placement of a very strong essay by Mark Helprin entitled "The Rise of Antireligious Orthodoxy" right before a strong essay on multi-culturalism by Christopher Hitchens makes me smile every time... I rate this book 4 stars out of 5.
SciTech Book News
Thirty essays identify and analyze "threats to freedom" in contemporary times from a generally conservative perspective.
Weekly Press—Philadelphia, PA
External threats to democracy abound, from the explosive-laden SUV in New York City onward, but it is the internal and very real threats to American freedom that you will want to explore in these thoughtful, informed essays in order to be more effective in the urgent need to preserve the meaning of freedom. —Dea Adria Mallin
The Propagandist (web review)
Some of the essays in this book will truly alarm you. Some will have you wondering what all the fuss is about. And, some while pointing to a true problem aren't really a threat to freedom. . . . I strongly recommend it. You won’t agree with every essay, but so what? It will get you thinking, and that's what counts. —Fred Litwin
JBog Central (online blog)
I must say that I found this book truly intriguing. I myself have taken a vacation from protecting freedom. I have ignored the travesty of many parts of the Patriot act. I was silent when it became clear that the press were all colluding to limit our freedom while gaining more for themselves. This book reminds me that we must continue the eternal fight against oppression, no matter what form it may take.
frontporchrepublic.com (online review)
The range of topics and writers is impressive. The essays are insightful and a delight to read.
onecosmost.blogspot.com (online review)
[V]aluable book.
Vancouver Sun—The Search Blog
Rosenbaum writes eloquently about how the tone of political debate has become increasingly toxic in the past decade in the U.S., and he credits much of that to the raw nature of exchange on the often-anonymous world wide web. &mdashDouglas Todd
Note: This review is in reference to the chapter entitled Cyber Anonymity
Politically Incorrect Commentary (online blog)
There are some very good articles in the book. Greg Lukianoff wrote a very good article on speech codes and the recent debacle that happened when someone wrote a satirical play and tried to perform it. Other good articles talk about the stupidity of the press and its short attention span, and the threats to a free press from around the world. These were all very well written and thought out articles.
Let a Thousand Nations Bloom—online blog
[A] remarkable collection of essays by an eclectic group of professors, journalists, intellectuals, and other wordsmiths, all on the topic of what's corroding the mainstays of liberty in America. —Mike Gibson
FIRE (web review)—www.thefire.org
While most of the topics covered in the book are not FIRE issues or are only tangentially related to freedom in academia, FIRE is always glad to see an exercise in advancing ideas and robust debate, and we are proud to be part of the prestigious intellectual group that the authors of this book represent. —Robert Shibley
PaTownHall.com—online review
[A] book that is sure to be widely talked about for some time to come.