The Politics of Freedom and the Limits of Politics

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The late Jean bethga elstein delivered lectures in 19 95 called am augustine a and the politics ofand the limits of politics. In re reading this book and writing a new preface for this book, it did strike me that one of the odd consequences of this liberal project was a kind of lowering of the horizon of what we thought possible. What i see to day is a kind of growing sort o almost pessimism, a kind of despair about politics. That seems to be the flip side of this coin.

Political Scientist and author Patrick Deneen of the University of Notre Dame talks about his book Why Liberalism Failed with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. By liberalism, Deneen means the modern enterprise--the push for self-actualization free of the constraints of tradition, family, and religion that typifies modern culture. He argues that both the left and the right have empowered the state and reduced liberty. He argues for a smaller, more local, more artisanal economy and a return to the virtues of self-control and self-mastery.