BOOK REVIEW: British Conservative Daniel Hannan Warns America About Dangers of European Collectivism, Socialism in 'The New Road to Serfdom'
Reviewed By David M. Kinchen
Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.) -- Walt Whitman (1819-1892) U.S. Poet, "Song of Myself"
The heavily bearded poet Whitman got it right from the git go, and prominent British conservative writer Daniel Hannan cautions Americans to embrace their contradictions and not try to be Europeans in "The New Road to Serfdom: A Letter of Warning to America" (Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 224 pages, $24.99).
More knowledgeable about the U.S. than most Americans, Hannan argues forcefully and passionately that Americans must not allow Barack Obama to take them down the road to European Union–style social democracy. He pleads with Americans not to abandon the founding principles that have made their country a beacon of liberty for the rest of the world. Hannan, a member of the European Parliament since 1999, has few good words to say about Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush, whom he accuses of "expanding the state" in the manner of Big Government Democrats. I sense that Hannan is more comfortable with 43's father, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton's predecessor.
Among the contradictions American conservatives face is the phenomenon of the Tea Party, which Hannan considers to be a positive force. One sign of this is his praise for Republican Scott Brown, who on Jan. 20, 2010 was elected to the Senate seat held by the late Ted Kennedy. Libertarians -- and I consider Hannan to be at least as libertarian as I am -- tend not to embrace evangelical religious beliefs that are core values of the Tea Partiers. Libertarians would be more in line with S.E. Cupp, an avowed atheist and religious skeptic, who nevertheless believes that the Judeo-Christian ethic is not only the foundation of our freedoms, it is critical that we promote those values instead of the amoral rantings of the Left and of the radical atheist crowd. Talk about Whitman's (and I don't mean Meg) containing multitudes of contradictions! S.E. Cupp is a one-woman bundle of contradictions. She was on a recent Bill Maher show on HBO. Love those glasses, S.E.!
Hannan devotes a fair amount of his book to demolishing stereotypes of Americans about Europe and vice versa. Americans are as well traveled and informed about the rest of the world as Europeans, more so in many cases, Hannan argues. American culture is rich and diverse and its popular culture -- including television and feature movies -- is popular throughout the world. Americans aren't the boors that Europeans often characterize us and are far more polite than the average Briton or Frenchman, for instance.
Hannan, of course, takes his title from F.A. Hayek's 1944 "The Road to Serfdom" whose essential message is that centralized power leads to serfdom. Hayek (1899-1992) was a complex figure, winning a Nobel Prize in Economics in 1974 and a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1991 from Bush 41 and was not as totally committed to "pure" (whatever that is) libertarianism as other libertarian icons.
The main thrust of Hannan's argument appears on page 4: "The United States is the realization of a libertarian archetype -- both in theory and in practice. Its constitution .... is unique in the emphasis it places on the individual rather than the government."
Hannan is the first to concede that America is not perfect: No nation is. He argues that America's embrace of any immigrant's willingness to accept the American concept of individual freedom and respect the ideas of others is part of the good side of the oft-derided American "exceptionalism" and is virtually unique in all the world.
Conservatives, libertarians, independents, progressives and just about anyone can find something to like in "The New Road to Serfdom" and we all should welcome Dan Hannan's enthusiasm for what's good about our nation.
About the Author
Daniel Hannan, born Sept. 1, 1971 to British parents in Lima, Peru, is a writer and a politician. He contributes to several newspapers, including the Wall Street Journal and the London Daily Telegraph. A former president of the Oxford University Conservative Association, he was elected to the European Parliament in 1999, at the age of twenty-seven, and has been reelected twice.
Publisher's website: www.harpercollins.com