Review: Suicide of the West: An Essay on the Meaning and Destiny of Liberalism

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Suicide of the West: An Essay on the Meaning and Destiny of Liberalism
Suicide of the West: An Essay on the Meaning and Destiny of Liberalism by James Burnham
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I have read Burnham before, decades ago, but don’t recall the circumstances. I recently thought to reread him, and he remains as trenchant as ever. Some of the things that you might think would date the book (like the collapse of Soviet communism) didn’t have that effect at all. If book reviews like this can have spoilers, here it is. Liberalism should be defined as the soothing philosophy that rationalizes and explains our decline as a civilization, seeking to prepare us for the inevitable. In doing so, liberalism becomes a central part of the problem — a doctor with a death wish and no working definition of health.

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jsm
jsm
7 years ago

Since the topic of this post is a book review I thought I would ask if you have read a book I recently discovered. Have you read “The Doctrine of the Lesser Magistrate” by Pastor Matthew Trewhella? I just saw him give a message on this topic here in Alaska. It was very compelling.

Rick Davis
Rick Davis
7 years ago
Reply to  jsm