Essays in the public philosophy

About this book

From inside book description: The Price of Freedom In this compelling and provocative book, Walter Lippmann, one of America's leading political thinkers, urgently warns Western man that his liberty is dangerously threatened. In bold, highly readable fashion, he re-examines traditional democratic ideals-- freedom of speech, free public education, the enjoyment of private property, and other issues of vital concern to freedom-loving peoples all over the world. Mr. Lippmann believes that democratic procedures can be safeguarded only by a strong central government, unafraid of the power of mass opinion. Men will continue to be free, he says, only if they elect officials who cannot be bribed, appeased, or intimidated by private groups, but who sill govern according to the public philosophy, or those principles of unselfish behavior which formed the basis of the U. S. Constitution. Here is an imaginative, Philosophically-grounded discussion which urges every democratic citizen to place the good of his fellow man above personal interest in order to preserve democracy at large, and is own individual liberty.