The Universal Hunger for Liberty: A Surprising Look Ahead at the Culture, Economics, and Politics of the 21st Century FROM THE PUBLISHER
Increasingly divided and embroiled in conflict-both moral and mortal-the world needs a positive vision for facing the challenges that lay ahead. In The Universal Hunger for Liberty, statesman, theologian, and award-winning author Michael Novak charts a new course for navigating the murderous confrontations between Islamic states and the West. In place of ongoing tension and violence, he offers a surprisingly optimistic vision of how to heal our cultural, economic, and political differences over the next hundred years. This is not the first time Novak has looked ahead, against the stream of conventional opinion. In 1982, in The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism-circulated underground in Poland and Czechoslovakia, and described as one of those books that actually changed the world-Novak foresaw the end of socialism, and its replacement by democracy and capitalism.
The Universal Hunger for Liberty is an even bolder achievement, which takes the whole world as its stage. In the writhing of civilizations and cultures bristling with wars, Novak discerns struggles for personal dignity, and the liberty whence dignity springs. He poses the possibility of a peaceful democratization of the Islamic third world-one based not on a clash of civilizations, but on a profound understanding of our common cause. Novak sees the gold-and-scarlet thread of history as human liberty; here he finds the tie that can reconcile the Western democratic tradition with its erstwhile Islamic foes.
Islam, Novak points out, is a religion of reward and punishment, and therefore it must have buried within it a profound commitment to liberty. Over many centuries until now, this buried theory of liberty has not been brought out with full force nor, based upon it, a full Islamic theory of human rights, democracy, and personal dignity. It cannot be true that only Jews and Christians have access to such goods of the spirit. The world's one billion Muslims also desire for their children a world of opportunity and prosperity, a world in which their human rights, dignity, and individuality are respected, and a world in which they can remain devout followers of Islam.
Western notions of liberty are inextricably tied to a Judeo-Christian foundation-in the words of Thomas Jefferson: "The God who gave us life gave us liberty at the same time." But if we look beyond the fundamentalist posturing-into the theological heart of the Middle East-we will discover Islamic grounds for political, economic, and religious liberty. This mutual theology of liberty is the key to ensuring a safe, prosperous, and democratic future for people in all corners of the globe. The Universal Hunger for Liberty is the culmination of a long and distinguished career spent wrestling with the theological implications of the world's seemingly disparate political trajectories. Novak takes a bold step forward in thinking about the role we-collectively as the United States, and individually as believers in the gospel of freedom and human rights-should play in bringing this vision of a peaceful, democratic future to fruition.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
The desire for and pursuit of liberty is a key thread in both human and intellectual history, argues Novak (Business as a Calling), who goes on to say that despite the relative lack of liberty in the Muslim world, the concept of liberty has deep roots in Islam. This familiar topic is worthy of development, but unfortunately Novak shies away from addressing it in full until toward the book's end. The intellectual bulk of the book lies in his assessment of the philosophical, theological and economic values that drive liberal democratic capitalism. Novak, also the author of The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism, shines when fleshing out these concepts, including "moral ecology" (the way in which our surroundings influence and inform our sense of moral vision), using it as a way to engage the much-debated "clash of civilizations." Novak is particularly keen in his discussions of theology and gauging the extent to which religion will play an increasingly large role in world affairs during the 21st century. He cogently compares Catholicism's relative incorporation of democracy to the differing applications of Islamic law today. Ranging widely, Novak has a tough time developing some of his most relevant and provocative concepts, but offers a nicely contoured overview. (Sept. 20) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
Inside every Viet Cong, the Marines used to say, there's an American screaming to get out. Well, mightn't that be true of Baathists and mujahedeen and fedayeen, too?Thinking most wishfully, neocon think-tank denizen Novak (The Catholic Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, 1993, etc.) posits that the innermost desire of most inhabitants of the Muslim world is to find "an alternative to terror." Behold that alternative, writes Novak: "It is called, in the political order, democracy. In the economic order it is called the dynamic enterprise economy." Elsewhere it's called the new world order, but no matter: Novak would seem to subscribe to the view that the only thing keeping people from being free are shackles on their marketplaces, shackles that prevent those people from fleeing the jailhouse of poverty. Novak is just warming up, offering a spirited defense of capitalism-and a spirited attack on anti-capitalism that does a nice job of turning the tables, maintaining that disdain for individual control over social means of production is really an aristocratic prejudice that "carries with it a profound contempt for business, businessmen, and a capitalist way of life." Well, yes, but word up: Islam has some of that prejudice, too, courtesy of prohibitions on loaning money at interest, the heart of the capitalist enterprise. No matter, Novak argues. If the Catholic Church could shed at least some of its dislike of capitalism-in a fine twist, he urges that Augustine would not want us to confuse self-interest and selfishness-then the anarchic nihilists of the Wahhabi conspiracy might just do so, too. And never mind the holdouts: "Many more than nine of every ten Muslims prefer a world of personaldignity and prosperity in which their rights would be protected and their opportunities for growth and advancement would become abundant."Let's hope Novak is right. Those who are convinced prima facie that he is will likely enjoy his latest; others will wonder whether the current headlines shouldn't dim his optimism just a tad. Agent: Loretta Barrett/Loretta Barrett Books
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