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  • Suicide of the West

  • An Essay on the Meaning and Destiny of Liberalism
  • By: James Burnham
  • Narrated by: Phillip J. Sawtelle
  • Length: 10 hrs and 51 mins
  • 5.0 out of 5 stars (17 ratings)

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Suicide of the West

By: James Burnham
Narrated by: Phillip J. Sawtelle
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Publisher's Summary

William F. Buckley, Jr., perhaps best described the importance of this seminal work when he said, "James Burnham has written a book about Liberalism for which the world has been aching. It is worth more to the West than the year’s gross national product, more than all the planes and bombs…."

Through studious research into past civilizations, Burnham diagnoses the 20th century and finds it afflicted with destructive, even "suicidal" tendencies - all of which arise from the “Liberal syndrome” and its inherent applications.

The book explores several important questions, including why Liberalism clashes with Christianity and how Liberalism is a root cause of race riots and the rapid growth in crime. For James Burnham, who died in 1986, this book is certainly one of his greatest legacies.

©1985 1986 by James Burnham (P)1988 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic Reviews

"This somber, brilliantly written book attempts to fix the blame for the suicidal ‘contraction of the West’ over the last fifty years upon Liberalism, chiefly in the United States…It is at the same time a venture into the philosophy of history and an indictment of those responsible for the present disastrous plight of once triumphant Western civilization." ( National Review)

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liberalism is a failure

great book, I can't fault it in the slightest. if you want to understand what the Left in post-Enlightenment western society believes, and the shortcomings of those beliefs, then this is the book for you. not only that but you learn about the nature of politics in general. you learn about ideology vs pragmatism, and why a completly objective ideology can't exist. you learn how terrible liberalism is as an ideology too. not just in its practical results, but you also learn that liberal beliefs are shallow and emotional and are just a secular form of Christian idealism. also I want to note that what we call liberalism in America is specifically just one branch of the liberalism tree, the socialism lite branch i.e. democratic socialism. what we call conservatism in America is just a more classical form of liberalism. both suck, read this book to learn why

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