In his book, John Schwarz develops a conception of freedom different from, and more expansive than, the one most common today. His crucial distinction echoes that of Isaiah Berlin's (1969) Four Essays on Liberty: Negative freedom (which Schwarz calls “free-market freedom”) involves the absence of formal restrictions on personal conduct, particularly those coming from government, whereas positive freedom (“genuine freedom,” in Schwarz's words) requires that society be organized such that people can and do attain a decent standard of living through their own efforts. Schwarz differs from Berlin, however, in seeing positive freedom not as a concept easily twisted for totalitarian ends but rather as the highest form of freedom. Emphasizing only negative freedom means ignoring the bonds that connect citizens to one another, leading to an individualistic, morally bankrupt notion that says we are all in this—alone.
Schwarz argues that carving out a political space for positive freedom involves restoration rather than innovation, with the finest American traditions sustaining and reinforcing his robust vision. In a provocative chapter early in the book, he briefly examines the writings of some of the Founders (James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, and Thomas Paine), along with their philosophical ancestors (John Locke). Contrary to conventional wisdom, Schwarz contends, the Founders embraced an understanding of positive freedom holding that individual liberty becomes possible only under conditions of widespread economic opportunity. He offers evidence in another chapter that the American economy falls far short on precisely this point of providing sufficient opportunity through the availability and wages of work. A large pool of workers unable to find full-time employment, combined with the problems of low wages and a scarcity of health insurance, make economic opportunity an elusive aspiration. The author presents data indicating that these problems remained even in the best of times, the late 1980s and late 1990s, and became even worse during the less favorable parts of the business cycle.
Schwarz concludes that America takes the wrong turn not by having government do too much—as free-market advocates would hold—but by allowing government to do too little in defense of freedom. To advance the cause of freedom, he supports a broad array of policy changes, such as providing universal health care, establishing workplace training programs, raising the minimum wage, targeting immigration to the labor supply, expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit, improving education in low-income communities, enforcing civil rights laws, extending unemployment benefits, and offering greater assistance for child care. He states that because his prescriptions are tied to the workforce and to the opportunity for all citizens to better themselves through personal initiative, the policies would facilitate the attainment of the American dream. By Schwarz's estimation, 95% of current government spending meets the guidelines he constructs for the kinds of policies that promote freedom. Accordingly, a view of genuine freedom helps us understand and appreciate the growth of government over time, the same growth incompatible with free-market liberty. The problem is simply that we devote too little attention and effort to what genuine freedom requires.
Near the end of the book, Schwarz chastises progressives for ceding the language of freedom to their ideological opponents. Modern progressives typically defend their policies by invoking arguments about equality, fairness, and community. According to the author, none of those arguments can rival the potency of rhetoric grounded in the mantle of freedom. In earlier generations, from which Schwarz offers the examples of Franklin Roosevelt during the New Deal and the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, progressives spoke the language of freedom. The failure of their successors to follow a similar path has pushed the nation into the hands of those upholding only free-market liberty.
Schwarz is crisp and concise in his writing, but there are a couple of places where he might have elaborated his arguments in greater detail. His discussion of the Founders, which will surprise many readers, could have benefited from a more thorough analysis to corroborate his interpretations. More space, too, could have been devoted to his attribution of modern liberalism's failures to its abandonment of the language of freedom. One would like to see evidence linking changes in the rhetoric of progressives to specific policy debates and outcomes where the free-market view prevailed. Similarly, one would want to consider alternative explanations, of which there are many, for why progressives have lost their foothold in the body politic. Of course, the fact that some of Schwarz's themes are a bit underdeveloped could be seen not as a weakness but as the inevitable by-product of an ambitious attempt to cover so much ground within two covers.
Assuming that he gains a broad readership—one that the book merits—would Schwarz succeed in convincing backers of free-market liberty to change their views? Asking a single book to accomplish such a goal surely sets the bar too high. Anyone seeking a clearly articulated position on these questions can expect to find in Freedom Reclaimed a well-crafted normative argument appropriately backed by theory, reasoning, and evidence. Although many of the individual points Schwarz makes are familiar, he distills, combines, and extends them in an original way. This is a book that would reward reading from those interested in the past, present, and future of freedom, government, the economy, and the welfare state.
