The Quest for Cosmic Justice
Author: Thomas Sowell
This is not a comforting book -- it is a book about disturbing issues that are urgently important today and enduringly critical for the future. It rejects both "merit" and historical redress as principles for guiding public policy. It shows how "peace" movements have led to war and to needless casualties in those wars. It argues that "equality" is neither right nor wrong, but meaningless.
The Quest for Cosmic Justice shows how confused conceptions of justice end up promoting injustice, how confused conceptions of equality end up promoting inequality, and how the tyranny of social visions prevents many people from confronting the actual consequences of their own beliefs and policies. Those consequences include the steady and dangerous erosion of the fundamental principles of freedom -- and the quiet repeal of the American revolution.
Publishers Weekly
One of the country's most respected conservative intellectuals, Sowell (Race and Culture, etc.) proclaims a need to clarify the notion of justice. He then hurriedly decrees an absolute dichotomy between "traditional justice"--purely procedural equal treatment--and "cosmic justice." Unfortunately, Sowell, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, never satisfactorily defines what he means by cosmic justice, using it as an elastic term. Sowell easily tears apart handpicked examples of ill-conceived cosmic justice while steering clear of serious engagement with opposing positions. Thus he attacks Supreme Court rulings such as Miranda as "attempts to seek cosmic justice in the courtroom," but it requires a much better argument than Sowell provides to see how Miranda is anything but procedural. He equates redistributive state policies with "Stalin, Mao and Pol Pot," as if Western European welfare states simply didn't exist. Sowell makes some very good points in these four essays (touching on the difficulty of defining equal performance, the necessity of considering costs in pursuing abstract ideals and the corrosive political effects of envy), but he overplays his hand. The essay called "The Tyranny of Visions" asserts that conservatives "acquire no sense of moral superiority" from their positions, a point that anyone familiar with Pat Buchanan or with Sowell himself will find hard to swallow. Certainly, a good case can be made that people use the term "justice" loosely and that many conflate procedural justice with metaphysical justice. Beyond that, however, Sowell offers a catechism for true conservative believers. (Oct.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.
Library Journal
"Much of the world today and down through centuries of history has suffered the terrible consequences of unbridled government power, the prime evil that the writers of the American constitution sought to guard against." It is this "unbridled government power" that prolific political theorist Sowell (Affirmative Action Reconsidered) fears most as something that follows necessarily when societies try to achieve "cosmic justice" (as opposed to "social justice"). "Cosmic justice," he asserts, "is not about the rules of the game" but rather about "putting particular segments of society in the position that they would have been in but for some undeserved misfortune." Referring often to 20th-century world history, he argues persuasively that whatever benefits one might hope would result from trying to right the past wrongs of the world (instead of trying to repair the present world), they are not worth the almost inevitable risks of the loss of freedom and the rise of despotism. As Sowell does so well in his other books--many of which analyze the tradeoff between freedom and equality--he presents his case in clear, convincing, and accessible language. Strongly recommended for most public and academic libraries.--Jack Forman, Mesa Coll. Lib., San Diego Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.
The Wall Street Journal - Daniel J. Silver
Mr. Sowell provides a trenchant critique of this disturbing line of thought, which has done so much harm to the basic values and commitments of most Americans.
Kirkus Reviews
A cosmic straw man is vanquished in the fight against dangerous ideals such as social justice and equality. This is not the place to look for original ideas or honest analysis. Presumably, Sowell's (Migrations and Cultures, 1996, etc.) goal is to entertain those who share his convictions rather than convince open-minded readers, and this audience will be pleased. "Cosmic justice" is presented as a fundamental departure from the "traditional" conception of justice, which Sowell claims has the "characteristic of a process," rather than of a particular outcome. He conveniently forgets to mention that this "tradition" dates back only to the emergence of liberal-democratic states and that contrasting notions of procedural vs. substantive justice remain the subject of lively debate. Admitting legitimate disagreement over even something as slippery as justice would soften the blows he aims at those who think inequality and any associated oppression raises concerns a just society should address, and Sowell is not one to temper a political argument simply to maintain intellectual integrity. He is not straightforwardly defending inequality, of course, but rather is pursuing the familiar strategy of attacking measures that could alleviate it. Sowell, a fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford, boldly asserts that those who believe equality should be pursued through public policy "assume that politicizing inequality is free of costs and dangers." No names are mentioned, and it is indeed hard to imagine that anyone would believe there are no costs or dangers. By stating the issue in terms of extremes, however, he ducks the real issue—the challenge of weighing costs and benefits—andavoids the need for incorporating any subtlety into his discussion.
Table of Contents:
| Preface | ||
| I | The Quest for Cosmic Justice | 1 |
| II | The Mirage of Equality | 49 |
| III | The Tyranny of Visions | 97 |
| IV | The Quiet Repeal of the American Revolution | 143 |
| Notes | 191 | |
| Index | 207 |
Books about: French Worker or Case Studies in Estate Planning
American Dreamer: The Life of Henry A. Wallace
Author: John C Culver
The son of prominent Midwestern Republicans, Henry Agard Wallace became the emblematic leftist politician of his time. A man ill at ease in the world of politics, Wallace nevertheless came close to becoming president of the United States. He was beloved by millions as the Prophet of the Common Man and yet reviled by millions more as a dangerous, misguided radical.
With American Dreamer, John C. Culver and John Hyde do justice to this important and controversial figure. We are shown Wallace the agriculturist of international renown, the prolific author, the ground-breaking economist, and the businessman whose company (eventually worth billions) paved the way for a worldwide agricultural revolution. The authors do more than investigate the complex personality of their subject. They bring to life with novelistic intensity the pivotal era in which Wallace lived: the Depression, World War II, and the Cold War. Wallace held two cabinet posts, served four tumultuous years as FDR's wartime vice president, and waged a brave if quixotic campaign for president in 1948. By the McCarthy years, Wallace's reputation was in steep decline, his cries against the escalating Cold War unheeded.
Drawing on thousands of documents, many previously unavailable, Culver and Hyde provide a fully rounded portrait of a man who reflected his country's hopes as well as its flaws, an authentic American dreamer whose story is a vital part of our nation's history.
Arthur Schlesinger
A careful, readable, sympathetic but commendably dispassionate biography. —Los Angeles Times Book Review
Douglas Brinkley
At long last a lucid, balanced and judicious narrative of Henry Wallace...a first-rate biography.
Robert Dallek
Everyone interested in twentieth-century American history will want to read this book.
Walter LaFeber
[T]he most balanced, complete, and readable account...
Kai Bird
A formidable achievement....[an] engrossing account.
Evan Thomas
[A] lucid and sympathetic portrait of a fascinating character. Wallace's life reminds us of a time when ideas really mattered.
George McGovern
This is a great book about a great man. I can't recall when—if ever—I've read a better biography.
Dale Bumpers
Many perceptions of Henry Wallace, not always favorable, will forever be changed.
Michael Beschloss
A fascinating, thoughtful, incisive, and well-researched life of the mysterious and complicated figure who might have become president...
James MacGregor Burns
A fine contribution to twentieth-century American history.
John Kenneth Galbraith
Wonderfully researched and very well written...an indispensable document on both the man and the time.
Doris Kearns Goodwin
In this masterly work, Culver and Hyde have captured one of the more fascinating figures in American history.
Senator Edward M. Kennedy
[E]minently readable...a captivating chronicle of American politics from the Depression through the 1960s.
No comments:
Post a Comment