Freedom Reclaimed: Rediscovering the American Vision

Over the last thirty years freedom in the US has come to mean individualist action in the market place with government, beyond providing minimum security, being seen only as capable of restricting freedom, certainly not able to enhance freedom. While admitting that there has always been that strain of thinking in America, the author makes the case that it is a view that is contrary to what the Founding Fathers thought and what transpired over the first 75 years of the twentieth century. A central view of the Founding Fathers was that to fully participate in political affairs, citizens must be free and independent. That is they must have access to sufficient property to sustain themselves and their families and not be subject to the dictates and whims of others. That Lockean ideal was at least theoretically achievable at the time, because most people were small farmers and the US had vast stores of land. Such free and equal citizens were part of the republican ideal of fully participating virtuous citizens. Freedom, for the author, goes well beyond the absence of capricious state authority. Freedom is synonymous with empowerment. A genuinely free man must have access to sufficient economic resources to lead at least a basic and respected life that permits time for self-improvement and social involvement. Furthermore, in a government of the people, a free man must be able to equally participate in the political process and not be trumped by the privileges of wealth. It is contended that free-market freedom gains legitimacy because "equal opportunity" exists for all. But it is clear that the privately run US economy falls short by at least 20 percent of sufficient good employment opportunities. Those impacted include both the unemployed and the much larger number of those earning too little to lead basic and decent lives. The author emphasizes "adequate" opportunity over "equal" opportunity. What has happened is that formerly good jobs have become inadequate jobs. Over the last thirty years there has been a massive redistribution of income to the upper level of earners. Median wages over the period have been flat, while average wages have climbed, even though productivity has increased by nearly 50 percent over the same time. The minimum wage stands at one-half of where it should be to sustain a minimally decent life. American families in this economic environment are surviving by greatly increasing their hours worked and assuming large debt. Genuine freedom for the author is a moral and social issue. Freedom is not about the lone wolf operating freely on his piece of property. The author suggests that we as a society are obligated to create the conditions and ensure basic outcomes that will allow all citizens to participate equally in social and political affairs. The solution is not to emphasize charity or "compassion" as so many advocate. Charity is an uneven, ad hoc process that is dependent on the personal inclinations of the giver - the

The author has done a great job of elucidating how the past 30 years of Republican conservative political dominance has hurt the average worker and working family. The book brings to light the great degree to which average Americans have been backing the politics that has been stabbing them in the back. Robbed of economic freedom and prosperity, deprived of personal freedoms, without decent healthcare, lacking in educational opportunity, and confronted by a deteriorating environment, the American people nonetheless have come to the false view that Conservatives are the protectors of liberty and Liberals have nothing to offer them. Schwarz shows how Republican policies have given the benefits of worker productivity to the very few and the very rich, while the worker just keeps working harder and getting farther behind. "Freedom Reclaimed," once it is understood and appreciated for its message and its implications, could serve as a rallying point for a political resurgence to take back America from the stranglehold of selfishness and lack of vision that characterizes its current "leadership." If average workers only knew how much better off they were under the Democrats in the 1960s and could be again, they would throw out the GOP in a heartbeat.