Too Much Liberty?: Perspectives on Freedom and the American Dream

Saari, a public affairs professor at American University, begins his study by offering instances of too much and too little liberty in America. As examples of the former, he cites such oddly disparate manifestations as the culture of drugs and violence, excessive salaries paid to corporate executives and the way rap uses language. His examples of too little liberty include unequal distribution of wealth and drug testing. He then reveals ``the truth'' about liberty, hoping to provide a definition of human freedom that not only surpasses that of J.S. Mill, Thomas Hobbes or John Locke but even ``exceeds in scope that of the American Constitution and the Bill of Rights.'' His tripartite scheme includes National Freedom (protection from alien domination and despotism), Freedom Within a State (a social contract with citizens) and Freedom From a State (the safeguarding of ``spheres of liberty''). Perfectly respectable, but it hardly measures up to its ambitious billing. To paraphrase one celebrated review, much in the book is original and good, but what's good isn't original, and what's original isn't good. (Mar.)