Posted by
Buster Foghorn on Monday, March 02, 2009 11:27:42 PM
I highly recommend: “Not with a Bang but a Whimper, the Politics and Culture of Decline,” an insightful collection of essays by Theodore Dalrymple, a psychiatrist, compared favorably by Peggy Noonan, a former Presidential speechwriter, “as the best doctor-writer since William Carlos Williams.”
Dalrymple’s collected essays display an ability to analyze, evaluate, and synthesize the evidence presented in support of his thesis in a clear and compelling manner. He communicates his wisdom, about the past, present, and future, in a straight forward highly readable style.
Displaying a high-level of intellectual curiosity as demonstrated by the extensive range of books he folds into his analysis, and a diverse array of life experiences marshaled in support of his insights, these timely essays raise issues in the news today. They are especially relevant for Americans wondering what “change” we might see should we become more like England with a stronger central government, a government reaching into all aspects of our lives while continually expanding the size of the groups totally reliant on it.
These essays support the overarching theme announced in the subtitle—The Politics and Culture of Decline. Dr. Dalrymple, a clear-eyed observer of the British scene, persuasively argues in his preface:
The United States is not immune from the collapse of confidence that underlies the deep British malaise. It is as plentifully supplied as Britain with intellectuals who indulge in cultural self-doubt, more from a desire to present themselves to their peers as broad-minded than from any love of truth or wisdom.
Just as connectives are analogous to cement because they hold “categorematic parts of speech together in the unity of thought expressed in a sentence,” the topics selected in these essays are the glue that holds civil society together. One lesson from reading this book—tinker with the essential elements of a civil society at your own risk.
These essays cover the gambit of cultural and political topics. Part I, “Artists and Ideologues” includes essays discussing the importance of language (“The Gift of Language”); character (“What Makes Dr. Johnson Great?); marriage (Ibsen and His Discontents); and religion (What the New Atheists Don’t See). Part II, “Politics and Culture” covers such issues as: individual responsibility(Real Crime, Fake Justice); the qualities of the British character weakened, corroded, even destroyed, by the corrosive effect of a legislative agenda based on collectivism and political correctness (The Roads to Serfdom, How Not to Do It, and In the Asylum); concluding with the dehumanizing impact upon all drawn into the government’s web of dependency, lies, and capitulation (It’s This Bad and A Murderess’s Tale).
A personal favorite was his analysis of Tony Blair’s performance as Prime Minister in “Delusions of Dishonesty,” an essay that drew a less than flattering profile of Blair’s character, and his leadership style—his “Third Way,” explaining why Tony Blair was “the most unpopular Prime Minister of recent history” when he left office.
This is an essay that draws an unflattering picture of his character—a “tendency to indulge in self-obsession without self-examination;” a political willingness to act contrary to campaign promises; an unwillingness to candidly respond to challenges about actions in conflict with previous statements. “What he said on one day had no necessary connection with what he said on the following day: and if someone pointed out the contradiction, he would use his favorite phrase, ‘It’s time to move on.’”
Dr. Dalrymple is also a contributor to City Journal; and at City Journal’s on-line site there is an archive of over 200 hundred of his essays, including “Delusions of Dishonesty.” I recommend you read this essay if you are interested in the topic and learning more about Dalrymple’s work. This is a book well-worth owning; you will want to mark key passages for future use in discussions with friends.
Other Book Reviews By Buster:
Fifty Days of Solitude: Making Time to Enjoy a Gift of Time
Taking Retirement: A Packed Deck of Lessons
Gaining Perspective about the War against Radical Islamism – Civilization And Its Enemies, by Lee Harris
Patton and The Soul of Battle—The Soul of Battle by Victor Davis Hanson