The New Cultural Philosophy of American Politics

the AZEL PERSPECTIVE Commentary on Cuba's Future, U.S. Foreign Policy & Individual Freedoms - Issue 427 B

José Azel's latest books "On Freedom" and "Sobre La Libertad" are now available on Amazon.   The New Cultural Philosophy of American Politics(Previously published) Share Tweet Forward

The cultural philosophy of a nation governs how the nation reacts to the challenges it faces. The political courses of actions a nation chooses flow from the dominant ideas it holds, which is to say that the relationship between philosophy and politics is a direct and practical one. The United States was founded on the philosophy of the 18th century Enlightenment or Age of Reason. The Enlightenment encompassed a range of ideas establishing reason as the primary source of authority and legitimacy. These ideas set the course for the political revolutions of the 18th and 19th centuries which focused the purpose of government on the protection of individual rights.  Our Declaration of Independence relies on the political ideas of early Enlightenment philosopher John Locke. Our concepts of limited government and the required separation of powers come from Montesquieu’s The Spirit of the Laws (1748), and Adam Smith gave us the rationale for free market economics in The Wealth of Nations (1776). The genius of the Founding Fathers was to transmute these Enlightenment philosophies into action in forming a nation-state.  In the 19th and early 20th century Europe’s leading philosophers, in a movement known as the Counter-Enlightenment, abandoned the Age of Reason ideals for a belief that feelings and intuition are more important than reason. The principles of individual rights and limited government were replaced by collectivism, and by the all-powerful state in various manifestations of cultural nationalism.  Counter-Enlightenment philosophers replaced individual rights with the “general will” of the collective. The nationalistic glorification of the nation-state that accompanies collectivism fueled hostility among nations paving the way for two World Wars. These, in turn, were followed by the spread of totalitarian communist dictatorships throughout the world.  In the United States, as argued by Michael Dahlen in The Roots of Capitalism and Stalinism in the West, the Counter-Enlightenment ideas “have undermined the commitments of Americans to the nation’s founding principles of individual rights and limited government.”  Prominent American Leftists groveled over the Soviet Union’s central planning; fawned over the socialist experiments in Cuba, China, and North Vietnam, and idolized murderous tyrants like Mao Tse-tung, Fidel Castro, and Che Guevara. As the Counter-Enlightenment ideas infiltrated American culture, the role of government expanded taking from our treasure and our individual rights.  In the early 21st century, American political culture finds itself in a rather confused philosophical state of affairs. Today’s versions of the philosophical ideas of the Enlightenment and Counter-Enlightenment are the globalization and counter- globalization movements.  Globalization, purportedly a business-friendly movement, favors easier movement of goods, capital, and people across national borders. Conceptually, globalization reduces the importance of borders and of nation-states.  Counter-globalization, on the other hand, is an anti-business, anti-consumerism idea opposed to the integration of markets and carrying great antipathy to multi- national corporations. Conceptually, counter-globalization increases the importance of nation-states.  Please let us know if you  this article. We welcome your feedback. Abrazos, Lily & José (click on the name to email Lily or Jose) José Azel, Ph.D. José Azel left Cuba in 1961 as a 13 year-old political exile in what has been dubbed Operation Pedro Pan - the largest unaccompanied child refugee movement in the history of the Western Hemisphere.   He is currently dedicated to the in-depth analyses of Cuba's economic, social and political state, with a keen interest in post-Castro-Cuba strategies. Dr. Azel was a Senior Scholar at the Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies (ICCAS) at the University of Miami, Jose Azel has published extensively on Cuba related topics. In 2012 and 2015, Dr. Azel testified in the U.S. Congress on U.S.-Cuba Policy, and U.S. National Security.  He is a frequent speaker and commentator on these and related topics on local, national and international media.  He holds undergraduate and masters degrees in business administration and a Ph.D. in International Affairs from the University of Miami. José along with his wife Lily are avid skiers and adventure travelers.  In recent years they have climbed Grand Teton in Wyoming, trekked Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and Machu Pichu in Peru.  They have also hiked in Tibet and in the Himalayas to Mt. Everest Base Camp. They cycled St. James Way (El Camino de Santiago de Compostela) and cycled alongside the Danube from Germany to Hungary and throughout southern France.  They have scuba dived in the Bay Islands off the Honduran coast and in the Galapagos Islands. Most recently, they rafted for 17 days 220 miles in the Grand Canyon.  Their adventurers are normally dedicated to raise funds for causes that are dear to them.  Watch Joe & Lily summit Kilimanjaro. Books by Dr. José Azel José Azel’s writings are touched with the wisdom of a master, and the charm of an excellent communicator. Anyone who wishes to understand why countries do, or do not, progress will find in this book the best explanations. And, from these readings emerge numerous inferences: How and why do the good intentions of leftist collectivism lead countries to hell? Why is liberty not a sub product of prosperity, but rather one of its causes? If it was in my power, this work would be required reading for all college and university students, and I would also recommend its reading to all politicians, journalists, and policymakers. With his writings Azel accomplishes what was achieved in France by Frédéric Bastiat, and in the United States by Henry Hazlitt: Azel brings together common sense with intelligent observation, and academic substance. Stupendous, Carlos Alberto Montaner                                                                    BUY NOW Los escritos de José Azel están tocados por la sabiduría de un maestro y la amenidad de un excelente comunicador. Cualquiera que desee entender por qué los países progresan, o no, encontrará en este libro las mejores explicaciones. De estas lecturas surgen numerosas inferencias: ¿Cómo y por qué las buenas intenciones del colectivismo de izquierda llevan a los países al infierno? ¿Por qué la libertad no es un subproducto de la prosperidad, sino una de sus causas? Si estuviera en mis manos, esta obra sería de obligada lectura de todos los estudiantes universitarios, pero además, le recomendaría su lectura a todos los políticos, periodistas y policy makers. Con sus escritos Azel logra lo que Frédéric Bastiat consiguiera en Francia y Henry Hazlitt en Estados Unidos: aunar el sentido común, la observación inteligente y la enjundia académica. Estupendo. Carlos Alberto Montaner                                                            Compre Aqui "Liberty for beginners is much more than what the title promises. It is eighty themes touched with the wisdom of a master, and the charm of an excellent communicator. Anyone that wishes to understand why countries do, or do not progress, will find in this book the best explanations. Stupendous" Carlos Alberto Montaner Buy Now "Libertad para novatos es mucho más de lo que promete el título. Son ochenta temas tocados con la sabiduría de un maestro y la amenidad de un excelente comunicador. Cualquier adulto que desee saber por qué progresan o se estancan los pueblos aquí encontrará las mejores explicaciones. Estupendo." Carlos Alberto Montaner Compre Aqui In Reflections on Freedom, José Azel brings together a collection of his columns published in prestigious newspapers.  Each article reveals his heartfelt and personal awareness of the importance of freedom in our lives.  They are his reflections after nearly sixty years of living and learning as a Cuban outside Cuba. In what has become his stylistic trademark, Professor Azel brilliantly introduces complex topics in brief journalistic articles. Buy Now En Reflexiones sobre la libertad José Azel reúne una colección de sus columnas publicadas en prestigiosos periódicos. Cada artículo revela su percepción sincera y personal de la importancia de la libertad en nuestras vidas. Son sus reflexiones después de casi sesenta años viviendo y aprendiendo como cubano fuera de Cuba.  En lo que ha resultado ser característica distintiva de sus artículos, el Profesor Azel introduce con brillantez complejos temas en  breves artículos de carácter periodístico. Compre Aqui Mañana in Cuba is a comprehensive analysis of contemporary Cuba with an incisive perspective of the Cuban frame of mind and its relevancy for Cuba's future. Buy now Pedazos y Vacíos is a collection of poems written in by Dr. Azel in his youth. Poems are in Spanish. Buy now

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