A Slow Circle

I read this book as a part of a book club and I learned from it. Deneen points out many of modern society's failures, in some cases like hitting the broad side of a barn (social inequality, feelings of political powerlessness), in other cases more precisely ('strip mining' of talent from small communities, loss of local institutions and culture, a lack of connection between workers and the product of their labor). Deenen's primary claim is that Liberalism sowed the seeds of modern discord through it's commitment to individual choice at the expense of more communal goals. Deneen's primary claim is that Liberalism as it was conceived and implemented from the 17th C. onwards redefined the Western concept of Liberty and the nature of man. In Western classical and Christian traditions, Liberty was understood to mean disciplined self-rule and freedom from oppression. Liberalism reconceptualized liberty to mean a capacity for individual voluntary choice. This was roote...