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Summary
Summary
As nations undergo radical transformation in every quarter of the world, we have a greater need than ever before to re-examine the sources of strength and weakness in our political, social and economic institutions. This book explores fundamental questions of wealth and poverty, of freedom and responsibility, and traces our ideas about them to their sources in Aristotle, Aquinas, and the Judeo-Christian tradition. Novak shows how an understanding of these sources can liberate human potential for creativity, reinvigorate our institutions and lay the foundations for economic progress. Special attention is given to the roots of Latin America's problems of debt, capital flight, and poverty in its religious and philosophical outlook.
Reviews (2)
Choice Review
Few North Americans have addressed the social, economic, and religious problems of Latin America in the past decade with more wisdom than has Michael Novak. In earlier books like The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism (1982) and Will It Liberate? (CH, Jul'87), Novak offered Latin Americans a reasoned, economically and politically sound alternative to the excesses of many so-called liberation theologians. Those books led to numerous speaking engagements throughout Latin America. Novak's reflections on his dialogue with Latins have resulted in the refinements of his earlier views, now published in this book. The argument centers on Novak's new emphasis upon what he calls "the Catholic Whig tradition," a vision he traces back to Thomas Aquinas. The liberty mentioned in his title assumes three forms--a liberty from poverty, from tyranny, and from oppression of conscience. What this results in is a totally new kind of liberation theology, one eminently worthy of careful examination. For a Protestant parallel to Novak's vision, see R. H. Nash's Social Justice and the Christian Church (CH, Jul'83) and Poverty and Wealth (1986). Highly recommended.-R. H. Nash, Western Kentucky University
Library Journal Review
The subject of this book, the author writes, ``is how to build institutions of liberty in this hemisphere of the Americas.'' Its thrust is twofold. First, Novak argues that North Americans and Latin Americans often speak past each other conceptually. Without an understanding of the Catholic intellectual traditions of southern Europe and Latin America, he contends, ``one cannot really enter the horizon of Latin American intellectual discourse.'' Second, he asserts that the basic reason Latin America has not reached full liberation is that it offers insufficient economic opportunity for the masses of its people. For this he offers a prescription: capitalism with minimal state intervention. But Novak has simply put a moral gloss on the standard argument that capitalism will solve the severe problems of backward economies; lacking any new ideas, his book fails to convince. Not a necessary purchase.-- Nedda C. Allbray, Brooklyn Coll., N.Y. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.