Vision things.(Democratic Capitalism and Its Discontents)(Book review)

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Democratic Capitalism and Its Discontents, by Brian C. Anderson (ISI, 225 pp., $25)

WITH the fall of the Soviet Union and the effective end of international Communism, and given that radical Islam is a thorn in our side but no long-term threat to Western culture, democratic capitalism no longer faces any plausible external threats. It confronts plenty of serious internal ones, however, as Brian C. Anderson makes clear in this new book.

Anderson, editor of City Journal and author of South Park Conservatives, is concerned about whether democratic capitalism can continue to survive, particularly in its greatest historical bastion, the United States. A particular worry is whether there are elements in democratic capitalism itself that inevitably press toward its demise. He observes that "the notion of the universal equality of man, which liberal democracy claims as its foundation," has inevitably unleashed "an egalitarian spirit that it could never really tame." Economic and social freedom create inequality, because not all people are equally gifted, but if everyone is created equal yet not everyone is equal in fact, something must be wrong.

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Pursuing this materialistic conception to the point of obsession, the Western Left promotes as remedy "an aggressive secularism, an overweening state, and a transformation of constitutional law into partisan politics." Resolutely avoiding the sin of despair, Anderson answers the critique by outlining both the real achievements of free societies and the intellectual and cultural foundations for them. Key among his insights is that the defenders of freedom tend to take a very practical view of life, judging ideas and policies by the consequences they bring, whereas opponents of liberty want to force reality into a mold based on their imaginings of an ideal society. The radicals' vision isn't connected to an understanding of how human beings really are; that's why they end up attacking all the organically developed institutions and ideas that make a free society work--economic freedom, religious faith (especially Christianity), individual liberty, rule of law, the principle of subsidiarity, the family, and public morality.

At the center of the conflict is religion. "Post-Christian Europe has unsurprisingly sunken progressively deeper into moral relativism," Anderson writes; and the differences between Europe and America are clearly a result of two entirely different worldviews. Despite the presence in America of a fairly influential though relatively small atheist contingent and some strong currents of relativism and antinomianism, "religious conservatives profoundly shape American society.... They are a transpolitical presence in almost every walk of American life. In this way, they continue indirectly to influence political society by helping to 'regulate' political mores."