Political Self

The Marvel of Martyrdom takes a broad perspective on self-sacrifice and martyrdom, bringing together religion, popular culture, history, psychology, and mythology. Stories of individuals both famous (Gandhi) and obscure (Rodrigo Rosenberg) intertwine with research on altruism, happiness, and radicalization to terrorism. The changing landscape of the book's setting - from The Roman Empire to 19th-century Russia to Nazi Germany to post-World War II India to present day Ukraine - makes the power of self-sacrifice and martyrdom come alive.

There is a well-worn image and phrase for libertarianism: "atomized individualism". This hobgoblin has spread so thoroughly that even some libertarians think their philosophy unreservedly supports private persons, whatever the situation, whatever their behavior. Smith's Self-Interest and Social Order in Classical Liberalism, corrects this misrepresentation with careful intellectual surveys of Hume, Smith, Hobbes, Butler, Mandeville, and Hutcheson and their respective contributions to political philosophy.

The American way - independence, entrepreneurialism, liberty - has been under assault for decades. The cultural foundations of the United States and its institutions are devolving along the line of some futuristic apocalyptic novel and producing social, moral, and economic dry rot that can lead only to chaos and ruin. Attacks on individuality, freedom, and personal responsibility for most of the last century have resulted, as Alexis de Tocqueville once predicted, in a gradual degradation of the people and the descent into slavery of once-free people.

In March 2004, high school freshman Shauna Fleming invited 1,100 schoolmates to join her in "A Million Thanks", a campaign to collect and distribute one million letters of appreciation to current and past military men and women at home and overseas. Within six months, she received the one millionth letter. Since then, she has raised her goal to 1.4 million letters, one for each member of the U.S. armed services.

Lucius Annaeus Seneca, known as Seneca the Younger (c. 4 BC - AD 65), is the author of On the Shortness of Life (c. 49 AD). In it, Seneca draws insight from different streams of ancient wisdom: Stoic, Epicurean, Platonic, Skeptic and Cynic, as he addresses some of the important questions humans face. Seneca encourages people to be mindful of time and to use it purposefully. He suggests awareness and acceptance as a remedy for many worries and wasteful dissipations.