Promise of Freedom; a public discussion November 15, 2006

The Promise of Freedom:
Is America On Course?

The Donald & Paula Smith Family Foundation
Present a Discussion

Featuring
David Boaz
Executive V.P., Cato Institute
author: Libertarianism: A Primer, The Libertarian Reader (editor)

John E. Schwarz
Demos Senior Fellow
Professor, University of Arizona
author: Freedom Reclaimed: Rediscovering the American Vision

Moderator
Errol Louis
New York Daily News

Co-Sponsors: DEMOS and the Cato Institute

While most Americans embrace freedom as a central value, its meaning is highly contested. Freedom has been claimed as the key to a moral vision for America at different times by both left and right. Each side has used freedom, or liberty, to make a principled argument about the proper size and role of government and about America’s role in the world. Both sides claim that American founders embraced their vision of liberty. Which version is most true to the founders’ intentions and what morality does each espouse? Does either see today’s administration advancing freedom? If not, what explains this political disconnect? When immigrants come to America seeking “freedom,” what is it they seek? Are these positions irreconcilable, or is there a place they can meet?

Wednesday, November 15th, 2006 (Please note this is not at CUNY)
6:30 P.M. Prompt
(Free and open to the public - Reception to follow)

Donnell Public Library
20 West 53rd Street
(Between 5th and 6th avenue)

Mission of the Donald & Paula Smith Family Foundation
The Foundation defends free speech and a free society through the critical examination of ideas, sponsoring debates and related activities in the New York area. In a world where philosophical arguments all too often take the form of partisan rancor and anti-intellectual appeals, the Foundation hopes to serve as a reminder that we are united by a deeper loyalty: to skeptical analysis, reason, and truth-seeking. The Foundation aims to foster informed debates that are both vigorous and civil, on topics ranging from economics to ethics, from politics to art, and beyond. Some debates will yield clear answers and some debates can never be settled, but the argumentative process itself can serve as a model of rational discourse in an often divided society.
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