A Free People's Suicide: Sustainable Freedom and the American Future
By Os Guinness
3.5/5
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About this ebook
A Logos Book of the Year
"If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide."
Abraham Lincoln
Nothing is more daring in the American experiment than the founders' belief that the American republic could remain free forever. But how was this to be done, and are Americans doing it today?
It is not enough for freedom to be won. It must also be sustained. Cultural observer Os Guinness argues that the American experiment in freedom is at risk. Summoning historical evidence on how democracies evolve, Guinness shows that contemporary views of freedom--most typically, a negative freedom from constraint-- are unsustainable because they undermine the conditions necessary for freedom to thrive. He calls us to reconsider the audacity of sustainable freedom and what it would take to restore it.
"In the end," Guinness writes, "the ultimate threat to the American republic will be Americans. The problem is not wolves at the door but termites in the floor." The future of the republic depends on whether Americans will rise to the challenge of living up to America's unfulfilled potential for freedom, both for itself and for the world.
Os Guinness
Os Guinness is an author and speaker living in the Washington, D.C., area. Born in China during World War II, Guinness left in 1951, after the Chinese Revolution. A graduate of the University of London and Oxford, Guinness is a former visiting fellow of the Brookings Institution. He has written or edited more than twenty books, including The Call, Invitation to the Classics, and Long Journey Home. A frequent speaker and seminar leader at political and business conferences in the United States, Europe, and Asia, Guinness has lectured at many universities, including Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, and Stanford, and has often spoken on Capitol Hill.
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Reviews for A Free People's Suicide
16 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5This was a difficult book for me to get into and read. The author presents a problem for all of us. We claim to be free but only consider and work for freedom from constraints. We do not work at or care for duty, virtue or pursuing excellence. The author is not a US citizen and I always find it difficult to read and/or accept criticism or advice from a non-citizen. I feel they really should not critique our society but should look at an analyze their own. Each country has enough of the population who will examine and analyze their own societies, without having outsiders do the job. I also am not sure he is correct when he says that we only worry about eliminating constraints, for I think out history is full of patriots who answer to duty and definitely pursue excellence. Thus, my difficulty reading this book. I received this book from goodreads.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This is one of the best books on the topic of freedom and liberty. A must read for both liberals and conservatives - in short, every American.