Tim Cohen’s book ‘LEON LOUW – A LEGACY of SOLUTIONS’ is an interesting read on many levels. At one level, it interrogates the history of liberalism, how ‘it transformed politics, economics and society so completely that many of its victories now are accepted as common sense.’ As Cohen points out, ‘liberalism set the stage for many revolutions and played a critical role in redefining the individuals place in society.’ I enjoyed the discussion on the move from classical liberalism to libertarianism and the reference to many of the great thinkers Hayek, Miles, Popper and Friedman, and then onto the role of neoliberalism. All their views influenced Leon Louw, his approach to libertarianism was born out of the South African context.
At another level the book examines our constitution in detail, what was intended in 1996, what has been delivered over the past 30 years, and where there has been failure. Leon Louw spent much of his time lamenting what Robinson and Acemoglu refer to in ‘Why Nations Fail’, the challenge regarding institutional ‘inclusivity’ and the ANC holding onto many of the ‘extractive’ institutions nurtured by the ‘Apartheid’ regime. https://www.sagoodnews.co.za/why-nations-fail-the-origins-of-power-prosperity-and-poverty-by-steuart-pennington/
Louw was enamoured with the Swiss Canton system and argues strongly for incremental devolution in South Africa – more power to metros, city-autonomy charters, province-run infrastructure which he argues could build momentum for reform. He revives federalism as a live blueprint for solving today’s crisis.
On a third level I particularly enjoyed was the argument throughout the book concerning our ‘official’ stats on unemployment, inequality, poverty and land, versus the reality of what’s happening on the ground, and the ‘legality’ of it. Cohen goes into detail on the virtues of the informal sector and how it should be treated in a libertarian context, and in particular, the debate on land and what constitutes ‘land’ completely discredits the crass generalisations that are part of our political babble.
The concluding chapters on ‘There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch’ – TANSTAAFL – where many of our current National Democratic Revolution policies are dismissed with contempt and how, in many cases, they achieve exactly the opposite of what was originally intended, makes for an interesting read eg. minimum wage legislation vs job creation initiatives – the two fighting with each other.
The hard part of the book was reading about the decision by the Free Market Foundation to terminate Louw given that he was the founder and had been driving it for 50 years. In my view the FMF, under new leadership, has lost its way in the sense that it is now overly critical of government, in a combatitive sense, as opposed to preserving itself as an intellectual think-tank concerned with neutrality and well-researched, positive proposals, which the government, not always but often, used to listen to. Tim Cohen writes ‘the art of effective advocacy is recommending better alternatives, and this is delicately balanced, a finely honed skill.’ A read of the FMF’s regular posts do not come across as those of a non-partisan think tank, pity. Viva Louw’s newly formed Freedom Foundation.
A very worthwhile read.
Published by MAVERICK 451
ISBM 9781049214764
E-ISBN 9781049214856
By Steuart Pennington
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