What Happens When You Take the Freedom Out of Liberalism

Occasionally I read a book that is rich enough in content to linger in my head long after I’ve turned the last page.  Others, while interesting, are less captivating and they fade from thought as fast as the smell of your neighbor’s steak on the grill last night.  When the message stays with you even weeks after you’ve put it down and you find yourself quoting from it, or referring it to friends, you know you have stumbled on a gem.

One such book that I read this summer is The Demon in Democracy, Totalitarian Temptations in Free Societies by Ryszard Legutko.  According to the back cover, the author is “a professor of philosophy at Jagellonian University in Krakow, Poland, specializing in ancient philosophy and political theory.”  In other words, Ryszard is no fly weight when it comes to having a point of view worthy of respect. 

Further information about the author reveals the following: