The Politics of Bad Faith: The Radical Assault on America's Future

Being a staunch Libertarian who holds no truck with bureaucratic social engineering from either the Republican moralists or the Democratic PC crusaders, it is rare that a political screed holds up to the natural cynicism I bring to most reads of this sort. The vast majority are screaming, finger-pointing diatribes extolling the perfection of the authors' POV and the Satanic origin of his opponents'. That said, I must hand Dr. Horowitz kudos of the grandest nature for his factual analysis of how our two major parties wound up where they are today. Committed Republicans can point to this clear and illustrative history of the Left and discover why they feel like they do; it is difficult to not jerk one's knees in reaction to some of the eyewitness accounts given here. Committed Democrats can point to this clear and illustrative history of the Left and find their roots; a genaeology of their outlook helps clarify the causes of some of their actions and emotions. Committed Libertarians, however, will still have a hard time explaining why Republicans are acting more like Democrats and Democrats often pretend to be Republicans; I wonder whether Horowitz is waxing nostalgic or prescient. In any event, this is history that popular media will not provide. Likewise, I find it noteworthy that academic acquaintences who enjoy Horowitz will also discuss Lerner and Dershowitz equally openly. Not so for the establishment professorials I've known. For those reasons I lean more towards believing the content of this work. If, perhaps, those who disagree would explain their contention with fact and account instead of rhetorical pooh-poohs and the literary equivalent of rolling their eyes, acceptance might still be in question. A critical examination of the substance of the work coupled with an arms-length perusal of the respective reactions convinces me that Horowitz speaks truthfully. Now, the question is where do we find anybody who can actually do with his presentations what needs to be done?

In my youth, I loved stories of the protesting efforts of Jerry Rubin, Abbie Hoffman and their peers. But sadly, neither of those two lived long enough to arrive at a stable place where they could impact public dialog in a long term, positive way. David Horowitz however, has. As an ex-Left Wing extremist, he knows whereof he speaks. If you ever felt strongly against the Vietnam War, or "Nukes" or "Corporate America" or feel strongly in favor of such things as "Gay Rights" or "the Environment", you should read this book.Not that David will speak as expected on those topics (he doesn't). Rather, you should read this book because by following his crystal clear review of his own (and others) thoughts and actions as a Radical Leftie, you can more effectively vet your own thinking process in that area.Protesting and railing against traditional things as a way of life all sounds well & good when you are doing it, but if you step back and study what's really driving the mind set of the people and leaders of the Left, you begin to recognize the pernicious and destructive undercurrent in Left Wing motivation. As I said in my title, David Horowitz has a powerful mind. Not only that, but his information is very accurate. Was it Jack Nicholson who (in a movie) said "You can't handle the truth!"?... Don't read this book if that's you.

This book did not just illuminate my mind, but touched my soul. An excellent writer like Horowitz can move those of us who are destined to ponder, (and are sometimes plagued by), the great questions of good, evil, Man, God, religions, philosophies, and their effects, to new dimensions of consciousness. I myself have never been attracted to Marxism, and could never understand anyone who was. To me, it never made any sense, seemed self-evidently repulsive, morally abhorrent, and opposed to everything in which I believed, having been raised on the Bible and then reading Ayn Rand. Until now, I never understood the minds of those who by Marxism's illusions are seduced, nor the heart of its core beliefs. I now know how radicals think, and have a deeper understanding of the other side, rather than a mere instinctive recoil. That my instincts have been right, will come as no surprise to conservatives and many moderately minded people, but will be denied by hard core liberals, which is one of Horowitz's central points: "There are none so blind as those who will not see." Liberals today still deny, obfuscate, distort, and twist their own perceptions in order to revive the socialist dream, even after the Nazi, Soviet, and worldwide Marxist disasters of the past two centuries. That the very ideas of socialism are malevolent, and responsible for the atrocities, not merely the failures of the implementers, is what Horowitz wants to stress. Those who predicted the obtained results long before they happened were not listened to--von Mises, Hayek, others. Outrageously, these and other classical thinkers(Smith, Friedman) are not required as part of college curriculums, but the Marxists, de Man, Gramsci, Foucoult, and their ilk rule in liberal arts departments. Why? Horowitz explains that if intellectuals were not blinded by their mystical, ego-bound delusions that they are the messiahs of the world, they would have recognized, not just the unpragmatism of socialism, but the evil of it long ago. There can never be equality of condition, even in a totalitarian state, because the equalizers must necessarily be exalted above the equalized, and pointing a gun, all the way. It was an Evil Empire! Anyway, Horowitz tells a particularly insightful story, having grown up as the child of disaffected Jews who became "revolutionary internationalists", living in New York. One not insignificant moment in his life was realizing the emptiness and emotional void at his father's funeral, which was attended by a handful of long time "comrades," who hardly knew him as a man at all, only as a Communist. In telling the story of his own conversion from radicalism, Horowitz goes deep into the minds and beliefs of those with whom he used to share the Marxist dream. I personally thought the chapter on the religious roots of socialism particularly fascinating. One cannot talk about the Left and the origins of their ideology,(it is still Marxi

David Horowitz has done time at both ends of the political spectrum, and he's just the person to elaborate on the "theological" presuppositions of the Left. Readers of Paul Johnson's _Intellectuals_ will be unsurprised to learn that Horowitz finds a whole lotta claptrap clouding the minds of the secular Left. But his discussions of Leftist "messianism" are a fascinating and insightful dissection of the view that we can bring on the New Age ourselves "merely" by chucking tradition and the accumulated wisdom of our forebears and rebuilding human nature and human society from the ground up. The free market beats the muddle of the "planners" every time. Maybe such mitzvot/commandments as "You shall not murder, you shall not steal" really do represent indispensible "design parameters" for a sustainable human society, and it's not our job to undertake "redesigns?"

Horowitz is, as always, at his best. We are yet to see a Leftist confront him on an intellectual level. Every Left-wing criticism is filled with personal insult. The Left is yet to challenge Horowitz on the ideas that he raises, and argues, so powerfully and persuasively. This book is another example of Horowitz finding, and dissecting, the pathology of the socialist mindset. His eloquence and intellectual prowess are surpassed only by his intestinal fortitude. This is a must read.