The Good Society Inquiry Into The Principles Of The Good Society

The Good Society is a critical text in the history of liberalism. Initially a series of articles published in a variety of Lippmann's favorite magazines, as the whole evolved, it became a frontal assault against totalitarian tendencies within American society. Lippmann took to task those who sought to improve the lot of mankind by undoing the work of their predecessors and by undermining movements in which men struggle to be free. This book is a strong indictment of programs of reform that are at odds with the liberal tradition, and it is critical of those who ask people to choose between security and liberty. The Good Society falls naturally into two segments. In the first, Lippmann shows the errors and common fallacies of faith in government as the solution to all problems. He says, "from left to right, from communist to conservative. They all believe the same fundamental doctrine. All the philosophies go into battle singing the same tune with slightly different words." In the second part of the book, Lippmann offers reasons why liberalism lost sight of its purpose and suggests the first principles on which it can flourish again. Lippmann argues that liberalism's revival is inevitable because no other system of government can work, given the kind of economic world mankind seeks. He did not write The Good Society to please adherents of any political ideology. Lippmann challenges all philosophies of government, and yet manages to present a positive program. Bewildered liberals and conservatives alike will find this work a successful effort to synthesize a theory of liberalism with the practice of a strong democracy. Gary Dean Best has provided the twenty-first century reader a clear-eyed context for interpreting Lippmann's defense of classical liberalism. The Good Society is the eleventh in a series of books written by Walter Lippmann reissued by Transaction with new introductions and in a paperback format. As with other major figures of the twentieth century such as Thorstein Veblen, Peter Drucker, Margaret Mead, and Richard Hoggart, these are classic books with contemporary perspectives. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Contents INTRODUCTION TO THE TRANSACTION EDITION ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS INTRODUCTION BOOK I. THE PROVIDENTIAL STATE I THE DOMINANT DOGMA OF THE AGE II THE GODS OF THE MACHINE 1. TECHNICAL PROGRESS AND POLITICAL REACTION 2. MACHINERY AND CORPORATE CONCENTRATION 3. PROGRESS BY LIBERATION III THE GOVERNMENT OF POSTERITY 1. THE RECEPTION OF A MYTH 2. THE AGENTS OF DESTINY 3. THE ILLUSION OF CoNTROL 4. THE ORGANIZATION OF IMMOBILITY 5. THE NEMESis oF AUTHORITATIVE CONTROL 6. THE GREAT SCHISM BOOK II. THE COLLECTIVIST MOVEMENT IV THE INTELLECTUAL ASCENDANCY OF COLLEC- TIVISM V THE TOTALITARIAN REGIMES 1. THEIR NECESSARY ABSOLUTISM 2. THE FASCIST PARADOX 3. THE FASCIST REALITY 4. THE DOCTRINAIRE THEORY OF COMMUNISM 5. THE WORNING THEORY oF COMMUNISM 6. THE COMMUNIST REALITY 7. COLLECTIVISM A WAR ECONOMY VI PLANNING IN PEACE FOR AN ECONOMY OF ABUN- DANCE 1. THE DEPENDENCE OF PLANNING UPON THE MARTIAL SPIRIT 2. CIVILIAN PLANNING 3. CONSCRIPTION AND RATIONING IN ORDER TO PLAN 4. PLANNING VERSUS DEMOCRACY VII GRADUAL COLLECTIVISM 1. THE THEORY OF DEMOCRATIC COLLECTIVISM 2. THE POLITY oF PRESSURE GROUPS 3. THE VICIOUS PARADOX IN THE POLITY OF PRESSURE GROUPS 4. THE RESTRICTION OF WEALTH 5. RISING EXPECTATIONS 6. THE STRUGGLE FOR POWER VIII THE WARS OF A COLLECTIVIST WORLD 1. THE ROAD TO WAR 2. THE TWO PHILOSOPHIES OF NATIONALISM 3. THE DIVISIVE EFFECT OF COLLECTIVISM 4. PROLETARIAN IMPERIALISM 5. THE REVIVAL OF TOTAL WAR 6. INTERNATIONAL SECURITY AND TOTAL WAR BOOK III. THE RECONSTRUCTION OF LIBERALISM IX THE GREAT REVOLUTION AND THE RISE OF THE GREAT SOCIETY 1. THE OUTLAWRY OF WAR BY THE MoDERN CONSCIENCE 2. THE DIVISION OF LABOR 3. THE CULTURAL LAG 4. THE COLLECTIVIST COUNTER-REVOLUTION 5. THE BASIC DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LIBERALISM AND COLLECTIVISM 6. ADAM SMITH AND KARL MARX 7. LATTER-DAY LIBERALS X. THE DEBACLE OF LIBERALISM 1. AN INQUIRY TO BE UNDERTAKEN 2. THE FALLACY OF LAISSEZ-FAIRE 3. THE ENCHANTING PROMISE 4. THE DISMAL SCIENCE XI. THE AGENDA OF LIBERALISM 1. THE INEXORABLE LAW OF THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 2. THE SOCIAL PROBLEMS 3. THE FIELD OF REFORM 4. THE RADICAL CONSERVATISM OF LIBERAL REFORM XII THE POLITICAL PRINCIPLES OF LIBERALISM 1. THE NATURE OF THE PROBLEM 2. THE ULTIMATE PowER oF THE PEOPLE 3. REPRESENTATION OF THE PEOPLE 4. DISTRUST OF THE PEOPLE 5. SOCIAL CONTROL BY THE PEOPLE 6. THE PASSAGE TO POLITICAL MATURITY 7. SOCIAL CONTROL BY LAW RATHER THAN BY CoMMANDS 8. THE REGULATION OF PROPERTY XIII THE GOVERNMENT OF A LIBERAL STATE 1. THE FUNCTION OF OFFICIALS 2. THE ENFORCEMENT OF LAW 3. GOVERNMENT SUITED TO HUMAN CAPACITY 4. OFFICIALDOM UNDER LAW 5. THE REGULATION OF OFFICIALS 6. THE CONTROL OF PUBLIC WORKS AND SOCIAL SERVICES 7. COLLECTIVE AGENCIES OF A LIBERAL STATE 8. NATURAL ASSOCIATIONS XIV THE REGIME OF PEACE 1. BY CENTRALIZATION OF POWER 2. BY UNIFORM LAW 3. THE CIVIL SOCIETY 4. THE IDEALS OF THE GREAT REVOLUTION BOOK IV. THE TESTAMENT OF LIBERTY XV THE STRUGGLE FOR LAW 1. LAWLESS LEGALITY 2. THE INTIMATION OF LAW 3. CLASSIC EXAMPLES 4. THE TWO MONES OF THOUGHT 5. THE HIGHER LAW XVI THE PURSUIT OF LIBERTY 1. A HUMAN AFFIRMATION 2. THE WILL TO BE FREE 3. ON DESIGNING A NEW SOCIETY XVII ON THIS ROCK 1. THE LOST GENERATION 2. THE ULTIMATE IssUE 3. MAN THE INVIOLABLE 4. THE DEGRADATION OF MAN 5. THE FOUNDATIONS OF TYRANNY 6. "WATCHMAN, WHAT OF THE NIGHT?" INDEX