Ameritopia

Mark Levin himself acknowledges that some people think that he writes differently than he speaks on his nationally syndicated radio talk show and it's something that I have noticed for quite some time. He's a little bit too pugnacious for me on the radio but when he pens his thoughts he is one of the very best, able to succinctly reach the ordinary American, albeit normal in a traditional sense. In Liberty And Tyranny, a former No.1 best seller, he contrasted the concept of liberty with the "growing tyranny of government-statism as I (Levin) broadly labelled it- which threatens our liberty, the character of our country, and our way of life."  His latest book Ameritopia, The Unmaking Of America, is another powerful reference and I write of that book here. It's a lesson in the history of political philosophy particularly as it relates to our constitutional republican form of government and the present threat to it. He begins with the concept of utopianism which he describes as a "pseudo ideal...in which a heroic despot, a benevolent sovereign, or an enlightened oligarchy claims the ability and authority to provide for all the needs and fulfill all the wants of the individual-in exchange for his absolute servitude." As a format for the book he choose "four classic philosophical works-that best describe the utopian thinking and conduct in America," those being Plato's Republic, Thomas More's Utopia, Thomas Hobbes's Leviathan and Karl Marx's Communist Manifesto. Describing Utopianism, the author writes that it is "irrational... (ignoring) the teaching and knowledge that have come before... (with) unachievable promises for knowledge-science and reason while laying claim to them all... abstraction framed as progress..., (stripping the individual and conforming him to the state)... deception disguised as hope... (based on) group identity... (ignoring economics and experience with a perverse definition of equality)... intolerant... rule by masterminds (and) driven by (their) own boundless conceit and delusional aspirations-which he identifies as a noble calling." He has a way with words for it's an accurate description of the liberal of today. On to the classic philosophical books that led us to where we find ourselves: Plato's Republic is a quest for a totalitarian state in which it is "not difficult to find the germs of Marxism, National Socialism, Islamicism and other forms of utopianism," a city that "provides for only the most basic needs  of its citizens-food, shelter, clothing and shoes." Acknowledging a problem in these limits, and the need to provide more, he calls for "Guardians...who will wisely rule and guard the city." The individual is out of the picture. Man is born with a particular "metal" in which you and I are bronze while I presume the Clintons and Obamas are obviously gold. He writes, "Indoctrinization is..crucial." Does the following sound familiar..."Only those who are otherwise healthy, but suffer either an injury or seasonal malady, are entitled to medical care" for "the chronically ill are not beneficial to the city." The "philosophers must rule" and we certainly see this today in the arrogance of the intellectual of our elite universities. Thomas More, who was in King Henry VIII's court and eventually executed, devised a plan in Utopia for a radically regimented society that substituted "one evil for another" and is eerily "reminiscent of Mao Zedong's Great Leap Forward." Concluding with Thomas More, Levin writes, "Utopia is a tyrannical society, destructive of individual sovereignty and free will, with many of the attributes of a communist state." Thomas Hobbes was a "partisan of the English royalty" during and after the reign of Charles I. Necessary in his utopia was "Submission to the Leviathan (or Commonwealth)...(and) transferring one's rights to the sovereign." Men were equal only "in the sense that all individuals strive for survival." Levin adds "Liberty exists only to the extent the Sovereign permits." Man once again is stripped of "human qualities that contribute to the essence of life." Levin concludes with "Leviathan springs not from a virtuous government protective of a civil society, but a totalitarian regime." The elimination of private property and the family comes next with Marx's and Engels's Humanist Manifesto. Class struggle anyone? Here is the "Workers paradise." Levin's emphasis is that "in all four utopias, the individual and his family, are subservient to the state." Having given the foundation for totalitarianism, Levin turns to two men whose writings challenged Plato, More, Hobbes and Marx...John Locke and Montesquieu. The individual here had "value, dignity and significance." Levin writes "Locke makes the case for a civil  and consensual government with just laws impartially enforced and in which the liberty and rights of the individual are respected, thereby rejecting the utopian centralized model where the philosopher/king, prince, sovereign or temporary despot rules over the masses and shapes the individual against his will." Enter the American colonies and those who would become Founding Fathers of the United States of America. Who would they choose to heed in forming the new nation? We all know the answer and Levin provides numerous quotes from the writings of Locke and Montesquieu including warnings of what the alternative was....warnings we need to hear again today. Mark Levin gives us the disturbing details of how men such as Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt and others reverted to the utopian concept, so much so that we are in peril today of a total political philosophy transplant and are now, according to Levin, in the buffer stage of Ameritopia. Levin states that Plato would approve of Barack Obama. The author writes, "The essential question is whether, in America, the people's psychology has been so successfully warped, the individual's spirit so thoroughly trounced, and the civil society's institutions so effectively overwhelmed that revival is impossible." My take on this is that Mark Levin's book, Ameritopia, is indeed needed. I read this book in an evening. Surely we as a people can allot time to heed such warnings, surely we can teach them to our children. It's interesting that Levin used the word "revival." The Evangelical of today uses that word often and unfortunately, once again often, ties a revival of the gospel and revival of America together. I say "unfortunately," for the former leads to the latter but is wholly distinct from it and if we ignore this, the best that we can hope for is a traditional, patriotic America to oversee the fall of that America. A reformation is more to the point of what is needed, a turning of the entire population, or at least the vast majority, to, not John Locke, but Jesus Christ. Our indifference to our benefactor directly led our rejection of a Constitutional Republic in favor of utopian forms of government. Nonetheless, there is a political realm that has to be paid attention to. This book is an asset here....if it will be read, particular by more than the conservative block. Thomas More's Utopia was written in the year of our Lord 1516. Martin Luther penned his 95 Theses in 1517. None of the above mentioned books, nor any others save God's very Word to us, changed the world so as Luther's thoughts put on paper. Indeed we experienced a Reformation that led also to political change whose offspring was England and America. Please take the time to read Levin's book and to pass it on, but only if this action is bookended by prayer and a return to the only words penned by man, under the inspiration of God's Holy Spirit, that transforms not only nations but the souls of which make up those nations.