In the second-best selling book of 2009 (Sarah Palin’s Going Rogue was first) Mark Levin pulls off the difficult task of defining the conservative philosophy for contemporary American society. A constitutional lawyer who has studied American history and law his entire life, Levin uses the breadth of his impressive knowledge to weave a comprehensive and articulate philosophy for today’s American conservative movement. While I think he usually comes across as mean-spirited and caustic on his popular talk radio show, he seems much more intelligent and reasonable here.
Levin begins by describing the difficulties of defining conservatism:
There is simply no scientific or mathematical formula that defines conservatism. Moreover, there are competing voices today claiming the mantle of “true conservatism” – including neo-conservatism (emphasis on a robust national security), paleo-conservatism (emphasis on preserving the culture), social conservatism (emphasis on faith and values), and libertarianism (emphasis on individualism), among others.
He then explains that it is not his purpose to “referee” among these groups or to give each of them a fair and comprehensive portrayal. Rather, he simply wishes to give his “own opinions and conclusions of fundamental truths, based on decades of observation, exploration, and experience, about conservatism and, conversely, non-conservatism – that is, liberty and tyranny in modern day America.”
The book then neatly divides into chapters tackling a variety of issues facing America. In each chapter, Levin succinctly defines the issue, explains the conservative viewpoint and how it identifies with the value of liberty, and contrasts that with the “statist” view and how it, in turn, correlates to tyranny. The chapters tackle a variety of issues from properly interpreting the Constitution to environmentalism, from federalism to immigration, from faith to the free markets. Indeed, one of the most impressive aspects of Levin’s bestseller is the breadth of issues he manages to cover while still tying everything together under the umbrella of conservatism.
Levin opens with a concept I immensely appreciated because it is rarely understood: liberty’s perdurable bond with private property. He writes:
In the civil society, private property and liberty are inseparable. The individual’s right to live freely and safely and pursue happiness includes the right to acquire and possess property, which represents the fruits of his own intellectual and/or physical labor. As the individual’s time on earth is finite, so, too, is his labor. The illegitimate denial or diminution of his private property enslaves him to another and denies him his liberty.
Another seldom-discussed issue the book tackles is federalism. Very basically, federalism is the Constitutionally-designed division of authority between the states and the federal government. Under this system, the federal government has “exclusive power” in a select few areas (foreign policy, immigration, etc.) while the states “retained their authority” in all other respects. In America today, the federal government has grown on a massive scale, to the point that its tentacles reach into and influence almost every aspect of American life – something, Levin explains, the Founders would have never wanted. Levin explains the immense advantages of federalism:
States are more likely to better reflect the interests of their citizens than the federal government. Localities are even more likely to better reflect these interests because the decision makers come from the communities they govern – they are directly affected by their own decisions. Moreover, the interaction between the people and their representatives at the state and local levels is easier and more direct. When the federal government acts beyond its constitutional limits, it assaults the purest form of representative government by supplanting representative decision making at the state and local levels. The federal government cannot possibly comprehend the diversity of interests that are affected by its decision making. It cannot adequately weigh the costs and benefits of its decisions on communities. Besides, that is not its purpose. It seeks to dictate rather than represent.
In his chapter on environmentalism, Levin explains how statists manufacture crises or emergencies as convenient excuses to grow the government’s jurisdiction or power (e.g. “Never let a good crisis go to waste”):
…the Statist uses junk science, misrepresentations, and fear-mongering to promote public health and environmental scares, because he realizes that in a true, widespread health emergency, the public expects the government to act aggressively to address the crisis, despite traditional limitations on governmental authority. The more dire the threat, the more liberty people are usually willing to surrender. This scenario is tailor-made for the Statist. The government’s authority becomes part of the societal frame of reference, only to be built upon during the next “crisis.”
Suddenly, the Left’s obsession with global warming makes sense. Manufacturing crises like these allow the government to grow its power under the auspices of solving said crisis. Levin highlights a perfect example from 2007 when the Supreme Court ruled, 5-4, that CO2 was a pollutant covered by the Clean Air Act. This gave the EPA, a bureaucracy of administrative appointees and unelected officials, unprecedented power over all vehicle emissions. Thus the government grew because of the alleged crisis of global warming.
Levin also uses this chapter to discuss the Left’s long history with bad science, including the global cooling scare of the 1970’s and their long campaign to rid the world of DDT, the now-proven safe pesticide that almost rid the world of malaria before it was banned.
In Liberty and Tyranny’s chapter on immigration, Levin discusses the importance of assimilating immigrants into American culture as they join our society. In a society that neglects this step, he explains, “balkanization grows, antagonism and conflict are aroused, and victimhood is claimed at perceived slights.” Rather than teaching American exceptionalism, the Left wishes to equate American culture with all others. Levin writes:
Moreover, rather than Americanize aliens and use public and private institutions to inculcate them with the virtues of American culture, language, mores, history, traditions, and customs, the Statist is cultivating a cultural relativism in which the cultures from which the aliens fled are given equal accord with the American culture. But all cultures are not equal, as evidenced, in part, by the alien fleeing his own country for the American culture and the American citizen staying put. It is normal and healthy for ethnic groups to celebrate their diverse heritages…But neither the heritage nor home language of the individual has ever competed with the American culture for dominance. The history of immigration in the United States up to now has been of assimilation.
Finally, I was pleased to see that Levin understands the vital role faith plays in both conservatism and civil society. While admitting that, of course, a conservative can be a secularist and is free to not believe in God, he adds, “[I]t must be observed, that the Declaration is at opposite with the Secularist. Therefore, the Conservative would be no less challenged than any other to make coherent that which is irreconcilable.” He continues:
Moreover, for the Conservative, as it was for Burke and the Founders, faith is not a threat to civil society but rather vital to its survival. It encourages the individual to personally adhere to a dogma that promotes restraint, duty and moral behavior, which not only benefit the individual but the multitudes and society generally. As George Washington wrote in his Farewell Address, “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable results…And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion.”
At the book’s conclusion, Levin lists practical and concrete steps that can reverse America’s statist direction and help our country improve return to her Founding principles. The actions listed fall under a variety of categories, mostly the same subjects covered previously by the book. Levin’s manifesto contains the policy punch a book like this needs, helping ordinary citizens understand exactly what needs to be enacted in Washington.
Levin’s book is a call to conservatives to return to their core values and a call to America to return to her founding roots. It is relatively concise and easy to read, which helps explain its immense popularity. Indeed, it is Liberty and Tyranny’s popularity which makes Levin’s message so invaluable. By placing a broad and reasoned conservative philosophy into the hands of millions of Americans across the country, Levin has championed the intellectual heft behind the burgeoning conservative grassroots movement. It is no accident that the book’s release nearly exactly coincided with the rise of the Tea Party movement. I cannot think of a better book for the conservative movement to base its ideas and philosophy on; it presents a conservative message that is relevant, comprehensive and smart.
