Socialism is dead, and, except within certain academic and religious circles, there will be few mourners. A system that in Marx’s vision would result in economic abundance and political liberation wound up in practice as economically ruinous and politically tyrannical. The world is well rid of it. . . . . Continue Reading »
The Undeserving Poor: From the War on Poverty to the War on Welfare by michael b. katz pantheon books, 293 pages, $22.95 In The Undeserving Poor, there are two Michael Katzes on view, the historian and the social commentator, and the former is much the more persuasive. Katz, who teaches . . . . Continue Reading »
When the Loyola Marymount basketball team, riding the crest of an emotional high after the death of star player Hank Gathers, was making its spirited run in the NCAA basketball tournament last spring, CBS did a short feature on Gathers before one of the team’s games. At one point. Brent Musberger . . . . Continue Reading »
Socialism: Past and Future by michael harringtonarcade publishing, 320 pages, $19.95 If one is going to be a socialist, Michael Harrington’s variety is perhaps the best kind to be. Before his premature death from cancer this past year, Harrington worked with Dorothy Day to help the poor in . . . . Continue Reading »
Revolt against Destiny: An Intellectual History of the United States by paul a. carter columbia university press, 331 pages, $24.95 The only thing really wrong about this thought-provoking book is its subtitle. Whatever else it may be —and it is actually several fine things — it is not . . . . Continue Reading »
The Galileo Affair: A Documentary History edited and translated with an introduction and notes by maurice a. finocchiaro university of california press, 382 pages, $50 cloth, $12.95 The Galileo affair lasted twenty years. It began pleasantly, almost innocently, in December 1613 in Florence at . . . . Continue Reading »
Whose Keeper? Social Science and Moral Obligation by alan wolfe university of california press, 361 pages, $25 Let it be said at the outset and without ambiguity: this is an important book. Alan Wolfe, a professor of sociology at Queens College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York, . . . . Continue Reading »
America’s Theologian: A Recommendation of Jonathan Edwardsby robert jenson oxford university press, 224 pages, $26 At first glance it is surprising that an avowedly Lutheran theologian, steeped, by his own admission, in the European theological tradition, should find so much to recommend in . . . . Continue Reading »
It is hard to imagine a Jew today who would come to Germany without a profound sense of uneasiness. Considering the agony of the Jewish people at the hands of the Germans from 1933 to 1945, one can well understand the attitude of many Jews today—even forty-five years after the Nazi horror has . . . . Continue Reading »
In his famous Postscript to The Constitution of Liberty, Friedrich von Hayek identified Thomas Aquinas as “the first Whig,” and has several times since noted how important it is to distinguish the Whig tradition from that of many exponents of the classical liberal tradition. Among Hayek’s . . . . Continue Reading »
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