‘Dismantling America’ is a new book by American author and Economist, Thomas Sowell, who is also a Senior Fellow at Hoover Institute. Professor Sowell, in this new book, discusses the conservative position in the running of government. This position embodies the principle that there should be a lesser regulation of economic affairs by government but a larger participation of the government in social values.

After years of studying the difference between a progressive and a conservative, it all boils down to one issue; what the two groups want greater governance on. The progressives advocate for the federal government to regulate economic activity more in order to produce results that are geared toward social equality, justice and peace. On the opposite end of the spectrum, a conservative pushes for the government to give freer rein to economic activity while having tighter control on societal values.

However, social and economic principles go hand in hand and if these values are to be realized at their healthiest levels, then there should be less regulation of the two and more freedom of association and transaction. The writers of the constitution must have been faced with this reality as they put in place negative liberty regarding specific federal powers and left states to decide the rest for themselves.

Negative liberty is described brilliantly by J.S. Mills who stated that it basically meant that the purpose for a government to regulate its citizens was to prevent harm to others. With people’s different needs and wants, the framers of the constitution were right to reason that the federal government should exercise negative liberty while states, which are more in touch with the ground, can exercise positive liberty. This is especially effective for issues such as marriage, drugs and land rights.

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