Policy Books

Of all the essays on economic thought that I have read, this is by far the finest collection I have seen. Not only are all of his theories accompanied by precise graphs, but this also makes a swell gift. On a cold night, I love to curl up to a fire of burning Andy Jacksons and this book, along with a stiff drink. A classic for the ages!

Most of the essays collected here appeared previously in the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond's Economic Quarterly (or the same FRB's Economic Review). The publisher Elgar has provided a valuable service in gathering them into one volume. The book is, however, prohibitively expensive for non-institutional buyers.
Of special note is the preface, newly written for this edition, in which Humphrey pays tribute to his mentoring professors at the University of Tennessee and Tulane. In so doing he also provides insight into his own personal philosophy and approach to the history of economic thought.

This is a companion volume to Humphrey's earlier collection: Money, Banking, and Inflation (also published by Elgar). By an eminent historian of economic thought, the book, in the words of the publisher, "addresses key concepts, theories and tools in the area of money, exchange and production which have proved indispensable to the development of economics. Each essay focuses on a prominent theory or tool, examines its essential elements, identifies its origins and traces its development across a succession of economists, problems, controversies and applications."

Moral Sentiments and Material Interests: The Foundations of Cooperation in Economic Life (Economic Learning and Social Evolution) combinds the theory of cultural evolution ala Boyd and Richerson (and Henrich et al) and the behavioral economy by people like Gintis, Bowles and Fehr. The book works further based on the theory - develops e.g. models for a better social policy etc.

Book discusses an issue which is very central for "being a human being" - co-operation. Book is very informative, very well written even if there are many writers with heterogenous background. Also after the book you kind of get more optimistic about the prospects of humananity.

I am without any formal education in antropology, biology and economics but have read "everything" by Boyd and Richerson - my understanding on economics is based on Microeconomics by Samuel Bowles.

The book was to me a good further reading after the Bowles Microeconomics book. But the book can be read even by someone who does not know about economics even that much as me. The book is not too formal - easy to read actually.

For several years now, a group of social scientists has been studying the human tendency to be socially fair rather than narrowly selfish. The editors of this volume--Herbert Gintis, Samuel Bowles, Robert Boyd, and Ernst Fehr--are among the stalwarts; others are found among the authors of the book's chapters.
The core of this long-running effort is Fehr's experiments with the ultimatum game, in which two people must share a sum of money (say, $10); Person A gets to propose a split, Person B can only accept or decline. Economists and politicians would expect every game to wind up with a $9.99/$0.01 split (or actually a 9-1 split, since bills are used), but in fact typical splits are more like 5-5 or 6-4, and in one place (Lamalera, Indonesia) people actually split something like 4-6, few A's ever claiming even half the money. This long-running set of experiments around the world adds to a vast, rapidly accumulating set of data showing that people are sociable, not "rational" in the folk-economic sense (i.e., dedicated solely to narrow material self-interest). The present book discusses the implications for economics and politics. If people are naturally concerned with fairness, narrowly economistic policies can be counterproductive; we all know cases of "crowding out," in which a material incentive actually makes people act worse, by crowding out moral incentives. If you reward people for being good, they will think it's all a cynical game, and will act worse. Punitive legislation to make people do what they do anyway (for moral reasons) is also counterproductive. Imagine what these realizations would do to American social policy.
The problem with this book is that it is too optimistic and upbeat. The downside of human sociability is confined to one page, late in the book (p. 388), where racism, honor killing, and the like get a quick mention. Alas, the morning radio brings a stream of accounts not only of such things but also of religious butchery all over the world--Christians, Muslims, Hindus, and even Buddhists (theoretically prohibited from killing but busily genocidal). This brings us back to Adam Smith's suggestion that greed may not be lovable but may be better than the noble, virtuous alternatives. I hope Gintis et al work on how to decouple fairness and interpersonal concern from the desire to exterminate everybody who is not in one's immediate social set. Until this is done, the hope purveyed in this work will remain thin.
The authors note that humans seem genetically programmed to have at least some sense of fairness and of self-sacrifice for the common good, but they wisely refrain from trying to unpack "hereditary" and "environmental" or "cultural" aspects. Heredity makes us do this, and learn it easily, and heredity gives us the ability to learn and develop cultures. No way to unpack. Still, more needs to be done on just how flexible these inborn moralities are. The range from Lamalera to certain parts of South America is pretty great. So is the range of murderousness in religious and ethnic settings. We need to know how to modify human behavior in these regards, and how much we can hope for.
That being said, this book is the best yet in the long list of books that devastate the selfish-individualist model of human behavior. People desperately want to be sociable, and be good members of their society. This may lead them to fairness and generosity, or to body-piercing, or to suicide bombing. This book offers hope for building new societies through use of innate human decency. At this point in time, any book seriously offering such hope is desirable.

This book is just really great. The literature on fairness and reciprocity in social science is growing fast, and this book is ideal to give you a flavour of why this is such a good thing. It is diverse, with entries ranging from biological models that attempt to explain the evolution of reciprocity, through the implications of reciprocity for the way legal sanctions work, to the political philosophy of the dark side of clan mentality.
Most readers will probably not want to read everything, and even less people will agree with everything. One needs to remember that a lot of the stuff in this book is still controversial, including the existence of (strong) reciprocity, but this is what makes it so very interesting. And if only half of what's in this book is right, it is still revolutionary.
In 10 years, this book will be terribly outdated. But for now, it is the best thing you can get if you are interested in the interplay between evolution, reciprocity and social order, and the fundamental questions of social science that it entails.

I pulled this book from my waiting stack after reviewing Vice: Dick Cheney and the Hijacking of the American Presidency While all that we do wrong is rooted in corrupt politics such as Dick Cheney represents so well, I wanted to get away from the personalities and focus on the underlying truths of the greatest challenge facing all of us, preserving the planet for future generations.

This thoughtful careful author from New Hampshire has created a really special book, small, readable, and packed with fact (superb footnotes). He gives all due credit to his predecessors in the field--Georgescu-Roegen, Meadows, Dalay, Hawken et al.

He brings out the nuances of complex systems and how our linear reductionist thinking, and our false assumption that technology will resolve our waste creation and earth consumption issues, combine to place all that we love at risk. I was personally surprised to learn that even if we fund 100 water desalination or decontamination plants, and resolve our shortfalls of clean water, that the energy required to do so would result in entropy and further losses.

The author brings up the need for better metrics (see my reviews of "Ecology of Commerce" and "Natural Capitalism" as well as my list on "True Cost" readings. He points out that the GDP does not reflect the non-cash economy or the degree of equality/inequality in the distribution of new wealth. I would add to that the importance of counting prisons and hospitals as negatives rather than positives.

A good portion of the book (a chapter for each) is spent discussion the three fundamentals: the limits to growth; the second law of thermodynamics (entropy); and the nuances of self-organization and what happens when you reduce diversity.

The author lists the attributes of complex systems as being emergent properties that arise from the interactions (i.e. the space between the objects); self-organization, nestedness, and bifurcation into either positive or negative consequences.

The bottom line for the first part of the book is that in complex systems, especially complex systems for which we have a very incomplete and imperfect understanding, "control" is a myth, just as "progress" is a myth if you are consuming your seed corn.

The author excels at a review of the literature and demonstrating the flaws of economic theories that are divorced from reality and the "true cost" of goods and services (e.g. a T-shirt holds 4000 liters of virtual water, a chesseburger 6.5 gallons of fuel).

I have reviewed a number of books on climate change, in this book the author makes the very important point that the annual cost of weather disasters has been steadily increasing, and is the annual hidden "tax" on our reductionist approach to clearing the earth, losing the forests and mashlands, and so on.

He points out that concealing or ignoring true cost does not make it any less true, it simply passes the cost on to future generations. In the same vein he is optemistic in that he believes that if we take positive action now, however small, the benefits of that action as the years scale out, will be enormous.

This is actually an upbeat book for two reasons: first, it makes it crystal clear that the classical economics that have allowed corporations to pilage the world, bribe dictators and other elites, and generally harvest profit at the expense of the commonwealth; and second, it ends on a note of hope, on the belief that we may be approaching a dramatic cultural shift that embraces reciprocal altruism, true cost calculations, equitable wealth distribution, and so on.

He cites other authors but gives very positive insights into public ownership (by stakeholders, not the government), essentially repealing the flawed court-awarded "personality" of corporations, and re-connecting every entity to its land-base and the people it serves. He recommends, and I am buying, David Korten's "Post-Corporate World." By restoring the populace to the decision process, we stamp down the greed that can flourish in isolation.

The book ends hoping for a cultural shift from consumption to connection. I believe it is coming. Serious games/games for change, fed by real-world real-time content from public intelligence providers including the vast social networks from Wikipedia to MeetOn to the Moral Majority, could great a wonderfully distributed system of informed democratic governance that implements what I call "reality-based budgeting," budgeting that is transparent, accountable, and balanced.

This is a much more important book than its size and length might suggest. It is beikng read by and was recommended to me by some heavy hitters in the strategic thinking realm, and I am disappointed at the lack of reviews thus far. This book merits broad reading and discussion.

See also:
A Power Governments Cannot Suppress
The Unconquerable World: Power, Nonviolence, and the Will of the People
Society's Breakthrough!: Releasing Essential Wisdom and Virtue in All the People
Escaping the Matrix: How We the People can change the world
All Rise: Somebodies, Nobodies, and the Politics of Dignity (BK Currents)
Imagine: What America Could Be in the 21st Century
The Cultural Creatives: How 50 Million People Are Changing the World
The Average American: The Extraordinary Search for the Nation's Most Ordinary Citizen

This will no doubt be one of those rare books I read over and over again. If you believe that profligacy holds empty promises; that we are spiralling on a downward course of natural resource depletion and want to go out into the world armed with a message of hope inspired by nature and supported by scientific principle then this is the book for you.

Tom Wessels uses excellent examples to support his arguments in Myth of Progress. He has a writing style that is fluid, understandable, enjoyable, and uplifting. If more people read this book we would be on our way to a sustainable future with an environmental ethic.

I loved this book. I think the author Karl Thelen, showed a lot of points that most people do not think about everyday. Schools have changed, and Karl was not afraid to point out the reasons and faults.

As I was reading, I thought a lot about what I see with my children currently attending school, and the relevation was a scary one. As far as the "teacher types" I was able to identify the types with teachers I have come across. I was in school 15+ years ago, and the way that education has changed is a discrace to the public education system. Karl pointed a lot of the aspects out. And I firmly believe someone needs to take a long hard look at the teachers, administraters, and all other aspects of the public education system, a change needs made.

I bought thios book to read due to problems with my step-daughters education (she has a learning disability due to premature birth) and what could be done. After reading this book I feel very confident that I am armed with the knowledge to better deal with the persons involved to get done what I feel needs to be done.

On a personal note about Karl, who is a teacher himself, he is great. I am attending college classes and Karl is my professor. He is very interactive in class, responding to our questions and offering tips and suggestions to help. Karl is the type of teacher that every styudent needs to succeed in education. Honestly Karl's imput in his class, keeps me positive and pushing on, even through my other class where my teacher is not as present!! Execllent book Karl, I am grateful I had the opportunity to read the book, as well as the chance to learn from you!

I flipped through my teachers book and he brought up a number of concerns in education. I thought it was very interesting to see my favorite teachers input on education today.
I applaud him for this book. And Mr.Thelen you are a great teacher and I hope that soon things will change in our educational system and there will be more Mr.Thelen's out there because I know I want my kids to attend a school with the greatest teachers.

This book, written by an author who has impressive credentials, is a well-written work, exposing many problems in education today. The book, a quick and entertaining read, is thorough to the point of offering viable solutions.

If more parents, educators, administrators, and legislators read this book and took its content to heart, the United States would not be a "Nation of Idiots" creating a "World of Idiots."

I look forward to the next book...

CAM, NOT a resident of a Nation of Idiots

Shows how just about anyone can retire a millionaire. They only thing which stands in your way is the fat-beyond-belief, completely ineffective and clumsy Uncle Sam. Imagine a whole nation of millionaires (and that's with very low or no inflation). The fact is - it's 100% doable, read the book and you'll find out how.

This is a nice fast read on how we should reduce government control of our money and give it back to the citizens, empowering them to make their own decisions about how their own money should be spent. The government has not been a good steward of our money as far as benefitting its citizens and Genetski mentions that only you know what is in your own best interest, not the government. The book represents the more sensible side of libertarianism.

The best way for us become millionaires by the end of our working lives is to reform the pyramid scam of social security by having us invest our money in our own private retirement accounts where we would gain interest on our own investments over time. As it is now, the social security system is bankrupt and there is no money being invested for our future retirements, but we are only paying for the benefits of retirees living now. Genetski has a fair plan for what to do with retirees' benefits now. Chile and other South American countries have already achieved positive results by privatizing their social security system and avoiding the waste. mismanagement, and scams that governments inevitably create.

The next area that needs to be reformed is health care in which citizens should be able to have their own private investment accounts to provide for their own health care. As it is now, the government-funded healthcare system is causing costs to skyrocket and decisions about your healthcare are beginning to made by bureaucrats, not by you as a citizen. Part of being a free citizen is having the ability to make your own decisions about your retirement, education, and healthcare and not having the government decide for you.

Other reforms which would help us get our wealth back from the government is privatizing education, doing cost/benefit analysis on regulations, making environmentalism market-based, and achieving tort reform in the legal system.

As far as educational reform goes, Genetski proves his point that private education is cheaper and better than public education. The money sunk into public education should be given to the citizen to make their own decisions about which schools they should give their money to. Such a system would produce the excellence that competition between schools would bring. The near monopoly of public education now is giving us an inferior education at a high price.

Genetski proves that even the lowest paid worker can end up a millionaire at the end of his working life, if these reforms are made. If only our government had our best interests in mind and there weren't special interests blocking our way, I suppose these reforms could be made much more quickly.

Amidst declining prosperity, stagnating economic growth, and lower savings rate - a large portion of America's population is faced with little or no money for retirement and stagnating income that loses to inflation. Genetski offers a true vision of the American Dream - repealing the sacred cows of the New Deal and the Great Society in favor of an opportunity society where we the people gain unprecedented control of the fruits of their labor. In this opportunity society, "the private, productive work force is so attractive, no one can afford to be left out." Among the remedies in this free-market prescription our: Social Security privatization, medical savings accounts, reforming the education system and tort reform. There is in an old saying that when you subsidize failure and poverty you get more of both-vis-a-vis, when you subsidize savings and investment capital, you reap more prosperity.

In this book, people who have read alot into Native American history will see the more famous Indian testimonials that have appeared in many other places, like those by heavily published persons like Black Elk, Tecumseh, and Charles Eastman (Sioux). You also get many anonymous accounts and the testimony from obscure persons who were only known to give their thoughts to a few white people. What sets this book above the rest, however, is that it doesn't just cover the time periods that are shown in most Native American histories, which would either be ancient pre-European times, or the famous era of the Indians' destruction and valiant efforts to maintain the old ways of life. This book also covers those areas, as it should, but continues into the modern reservation days, and even captures the thoughts of recent activists on the future of Native Americans. All people will be enlightened by the non-Western interpretations on history, religion, politics, and culture that are generously detailed in this book.

This book is a collection of interviews with and stories from everyday people as they lived out their lives. I first read this book several years ago, yet I find that there are interviews and stories that I go back and reread again and again. If you are a Native or a student of Native American History, this is a good book to have on your shelf.

Nabokov has done a superb job of collecting individual Native American memoirs from the last half millenium and weaving them together to paint the sad portrait of Indian-White relations. In between the tales from each successive time period in history is enlightening commentary, usually an historical overview of the period written by the editor. These commentaries help give a unity to this work. But this is not simply a bad guys vs. good guys book. Nabokov's stories reflect the complexity involved among Native Americans who frequently disagreed with each other about what would be the best path to trod for all concerned; and they also tell the stories of proud peoples who continued to survive and carry on. This book illuminates history in a way that most school textbooks do not.

It should seem obvious by now to any who care about truth that Zionists see America as not just the savior, supplier and sugar-daddy to Israel. Indeed, Zionists see America as the servant of Israel and in their tunnel vision they see no price too high for America to pay. That is what our controlling elites have allowed America to be reduced to. The masses have a choice: a life driven by fear or by honesty.

The only defensible war is a war of defense.
- G. K. Chesterton.

_Neo-Conned! Again: Hypocrisy, Lawlessness, and the Rape of Iraq_, published in 2007 by Light in the Darkness Publications an imprint of IHS Press, is a sequel to the book _Neo-Conned!_ which condemns the War in Iraq from the perspective of Catholic just-war theory. This book is subtitled "The illegality and the injustice of the second Gulf War" and consists of various essays and interviews from a wide variety of perspectives. These two books are edited by D. L. O'Huallachain and J. Forrest Sharpe. The writers, thinkers, and soldiers whose essays appear in this book range from conservative and traditionalist Catholics to paleo-conservatives to left wing intellectuals. As such, the war is condemned from a wide variety of viewpoints and positions across the political spectrum. The second Gulf War has not met the criteria for a just-war according to Catholic tradition and thus is to be condemned. The reasons why this war was fought in the first place, in a country which should be of no direct concern to the United States, are varied. Obvious reasons include the presence of oil, the role of monetary policy in maintaining a strong dollar against the Euro, and political power. Another reason involves the take-over of United States foreign policy by a clique of intellectuals known as neoconservatives. Two fundamental characteristics of the neoconservative agenda (particularly as spelled out in excellent essays by Stephen Sniegoski and Claes Ryn) include a near messianic zeal for establishing global democracy (certainly not a classically conservative agenda!) and complete allegiance to the state of Israel above all things. For example, as Sniegosky shows, following the tragedy of 9/11, Bush came to be influenced by the foreign policy of the neoconservatives (allowing his original more restrained foreign policy to be superseded) and coupled with his own apocalyptic Christian beliefs came to regard the War against Iraq as necessary. In many ways then, the War against Iraq can be understood as being fought for Zionist interests. Similarly Claes Ryn concludes that the neoconservatives are the New Jacobins, and just as their ancestors unleashed a reign of terror following the French Revolution, so they have unleashed the full power of the American military. Another interesting essay by E. Michael Jones, argues (echoing the original claims of Murray Rothbard) that the so-called _National Review_ branch of "conservativism" is actually nothing more than a CIA black operation. Jones shows how though neoconservatives often appeal to ethnics and Catholics in particular, that their understanding of things is fundamentally opposed to the teachings of the Catholic church. A final essay that deserves some mention is that of David Lutz which focuses on Christian Zionism. This essay shows how Christian Zionists have abandoned the traditional just-war theory of the Roman Catholic Church. In particular, Lutz explains how Christian Zionism infiltrated Protestantism through the teachings of Darby, Scofield, and others (and that Scofield may even have been employed by the Rothschilds in their quest for global domination). Lutz shows how Christian Zionism is fundamentally opposed to the traditional teachings of the Catholic Church, and refutes the claims regarding the so-called Rapture made by some. These essays offer fascinating material which effectively shows how the "right wing" in America has been overtaken by usurpers whose policies of global democracy are anything but conservative.

The book begins with a foreword by Joseph Circincione and an introduction by Scott Ritter.

The book includes the following sections with essays by the following:

"An Exercise in Critical Thinking: Today's Sharpest Minds Tackle the War and its Context" - Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair, Alexander Cockburn, Robert Fisk, Maurizio Blondet, and Noam Chomsky.

"Driving the Runaway Train: Neocons, 9/11, and Pretexts for War" - Claes G. Ryn, Stephen Sniegoski, Justin Raimondo, David W. Lutz, E. Michael Jones, Kirkpatrick Sale, Naomi Klein, and William O'Rourke.

"The Professionals Speak: Military Reactions to Operation Iraqi Freedom" - Karen Kwiatkowski, Robert Hickson, Jack Dalton, a roundtable discussion with several officers, Pablo Paredes, Karen Kwiatkowski, and Al Lorentz.

"The Professionals Speak II: The Intelligence Community and the Intelligence Debacle" - Patrick Lang and Ray McGovern.

"The Professionals Speak III: War College Professors Apply Their Expertise" - Jeffrey Record and Stephen C. Pelletiere.

"The Professionals Speak IV: A Scientist and a Diplomat" - Gordon Prather and Roger Morris.

"Defying World Order: Reactions from the Vatican and UN Perspectives" - Mark and Louise Zwick, John Burroughs and Nicole Deller, and Francis Boyle.

"Propping Up a Dying Giant: American Economic and Military Survival Tactics" - Immanuel Wallerstein and F. William Engdahl.

"One Good Scandal Deserves Another: The Snowballing of American Lawlessness" - Gabor Rona, Joseph Margulies, Amnesty International, Joseph Margulies, Jeffrey Steinberg, Jacob Weisberg, Dan Smith, and John Hutson.

"So Much for the Fourth Estate: Our Imperial Press" - Tom Engelhardt, John Stauber and Sheldon Rampton, and Sam Gardiner.

"The Other Side of the Story: Honest Men Consider the Situation of Iraq" - Ayan S. Al-Qazazz, Fr. Jean-Marie Benjamin, and Milton Viorst.

"Enduring Injustice: Iraq and the Current Political Landscape" - Donn de Grand Pre, Mark Gery, and Curtis Doebbler.

"Appendices: Perspectives on Gulf War I" - Michael Ratner and John Stauber and Shelton Rampton.

These essays and interviews include excellent material to be found nowhere else. Together with the first book _Neo-Conned!_, these two books make an important contribution to the debate over the War in Iraq from the perspective of Catholic just-war theory and a condemnation of the role of the United States in that war.

This extraordinary book and its predecessor provide tremendous intellectual, moral, and spiritual ammunition for those of us who oppose this monstrous war in Iraq that has taken the lives of in excess of 650,000 Iraqis and thousands of Americans and others. Maurizio Blondet's essay is particularly poignant and revealing. If Edward Luttwak's words to Blondet are any indication many of the Neo-cons were seeking to have Iraq bombed "back into the Stone Age" as early as the First Gulf War. One thing most open-minded people will come away with from reading this book is that the Neo-cons are a far, far greater danger to America than any of their designated enemies.

All good people who can afford it should buy this book. They should also pick up a copy of THE 9/11 COMMISSION REPORT: OMISSIONS AND DISTORTIONS by David Ray Griffin. The two books complement each other quite well.

This book tells the story of how a group of secular, largely Jewish intellectual liberals were 'mugged by reality', and became conservatives, or rather neo- conservatives. The neo- conservatives are distinguished from the old - line Republican conservatives. It tells of how this group two of whose prominent figures were Irving Kristol and Norman Podhoretz moved to the center of American political life. And how they and their colleagues became important figures in forming both domestic ( Supply- side economics) and foreign policy.
This book is detailed and thorough, but somehow not very exciting. But it is a competent telling of an important chapter in modern American history.
A few interesting points.
William F. Buckley disassociated himself early from the 'lunatic anti- Semitic right' and this helped in his pushing Conservative thought to the center of American political life.
The neo- cons were very concerned to have realistic , practical workable social policies, and were tired of grandiose and empty promises of Liberalism.
Neo- cons like Kristol and Podhoretz felt a deep gratitude to America and were alienated by the Leftist hatefilled attacks on American policy.
The 'anti- Semitism' of the left did not begin yesterday or four years ago, but Podhoretz and others felt it strongly in the seventies.
The Conservative ' revolution' was achieved in good part through the alliance of the neo- cons with more veteran conservatives like Buckley.
America seems to have greatly benefited from the neo- con contribution to its political life.

This is an excellent account of an important political phenomenon by a sympathetic historian. No, the elders of Zion are not taking over the government. 80% of Jews still vote Democratic despite the fact that the right is significantly more supportive of Israel that the left. But the main focus is not Israel but America. Unlike paleoconservatives, neoconservatives are typically ex-liberals who split with the left first over foreign policy (because the left viewed commies benignly as liberals in a hurry rather than the totalitarians they are) and then over domestic cultural issues. As a non-Jew, I can attest that this work will resonate deeply with those who have spent too much of their lives under the spell of the sixties counterculture. Sanity now.

This book is must reading for anyone who wants to have a firm grasp of politics in the twentieth century. It is also must reading for anyone who thinks conservatism is a religious reaction to the secularization of society. That belief could not be more false. Sure, "theocons" do exist, but they are only one small form of conservatism. What conservatism actually is is a reaction against facism and socialism led predominantly by completely secular men (and as Friedman adds, most of them were Jewish). Liberals of the Great Depression criticized capitalism for its failures. Liberals of the fifties criticized capitalism for its successes. The neocons were those who'd had enough, and stepped up to the plate to defend capitalism and the vision of the founding fathers.

American Conservatism can be thought of as the fusion of two lines of thought or ideas that are in Europe thought contradictory (and maybe this is part of the reason why Europeans have such a big problem with American conservatism). These two ideas are the importance of individual freedom and the importance of tradition or a code of ethics needed to civilize an otherwise naturally savage species.

This is what Thomas Sowell calls the "constrained vision" of human nature. Liberals tend to embrace the "unconstrained vision," which assumes that people are just naturally good and that ignorant policies are the only thing keeping us back from developing the utopia we could easily create. Liberals believe that if high-minded third-party decision makers tell the public how they should live their lives and impose their values on everyone else that utopia would only be a few years away.

The problems with this thinking, according to the constrained vision, is that first, in order for the government to have the power to create such a utopia a totalitarian regime must first be established, and second, even if a totalitarian leader managed to force his (or her as may soon happen) vision on everyone else, according to the constrained vision this will likely only make things worse, not better. Most social "programs" have unexpected consequences, and have historically only tended to make the problem in question worse than it already was.

According to the constrained vision we should focus on process and incentives, not lofty outcomes. Welfare might have a lofty outcome for example (to lift people out of poverty), but when one focuses on incentives created one sees that welfare will only create more poverty. People with the unconstrained vision in the sixties saw this before it even happened. When Barry Goldwater heard about welfare he said all this will do is create a caste system in America. Paying people to not help themselves is about as strong a reinforcer to NOT help yourself as could possibly be created.

So instead of people preempting your decisions and telling you how to live your life, conservatives emphasize individual freedom combined with an emphasis on classical virtues such as stoicism, reticence and honor. This is a recipe for fuller, more self-actualized citizens who create more and together, through good competition, make society a better place for all who live in it, including the poorest. (There really are no "poor" people in America after all. The average person who lives below the poverty line works 16 hours a week and spends $2.50 for every $1 earned. This is a behavioral problem, not a societal problem!) Liberals instead focus on instant gratification, getting in touch with "feelings," and the destruction of personal responsibility, which creates a society of dependent complainers who have been conditioned out of helping themselves. This removes the incentives to succeed by destroying meritocracy and in the end pulls everyone down to the mean. Society as a result will suffer.

Conservatives emphasize fairness in process; liberals emphasize fairness in outcome, which necessitates the creation of unfair processes in order to force the preconceived "fair" outcome. This unfair process typically punishes success and resourcefulness and rewards laziness and sloth. Thus we can see that conservatism is not so much a religious movement (this is a HUGE misconception), as it was actually spearheaded largely by completely secular thinkers whose common feature was an opposition to all forms of fascism, which includes all forms of socialism.

Submitted by the author on behalf of a reader. "...The reason for my e-mail is to express my gratitude to you for your writings in your newest publication: Newton Ave. I have laughed and cried, remembered things I thought I had forgotten and, in general, marveled at how you so adeptly hit the nail on the head...so to speak...in your descriptions of this marvelous little town and its wonderful people. I'm not quite finished with these emotionally deep and simultaneously uplifting articles, but I wanted to tell you how much I have enjoyed your work in case I get back to Clinton and am too busy to remember. See, your venture has already made a change in my life..." --N.A. from Clinton, MS

I absolutely loved this book. It's a must read for anyone from the 60's/70's as Rusty takes us on a trip down memory lane with references to great music and cutlure. It's also a journey into the pain of his life, as he celebrates it, at the same time.

I am amazed how relate-able these stories/essays are; no matter where you're from, growing up in this simple, yet magical time. The author weaves many wonderful yarns of memories and feelings brought together with poignant messages of reflective enlightenment and hope. I have read Rusty's other novels which are also captivating, but this is a more personal account that's truthfully uplifting! A well-recommended read indeed!