Everyday Freedom

Book excerpt: “America is in a self-reinforcing spiral of decreasing trust, confidence, and capability. [Howard] shows us how to break out of it . . . short, clear, passionate.” —Jonathan Haidt, New York Times-bestselling author of The Righteous Mind Something basic is missing in our culture. Americans know it. Nothing much works as it should. Simple daily choices seem impossible, or fraught with peril. In the workplace, we walk on eggshells. Big projects—say, modernizing infrastructure—get stalled in years of review. Endemic social problems such as homelessness become, well, more endemic. Yet there’s a glaring vacuum in the 2024 political debate—no party or candidate offers a governing vision that deals with the root causes of alienation and failure. Everyday Freedom pinpoints the source of powerlessness that is fraying American culture and causing public failure, and offers a bold vision of simpler governing frameworks to re-empower Americans in their daily choices. It diagnoses our collective futility as resulting from the assault on authority after the 1960s that, aimed at enhancing freedom, instead created a plague of powerlessness. The teacher in the classroom, the principal in a school, the nurse in the hospital, the official in Washington, the parent on a field trip, the head of a local charity or church . . . all have their hands tied. Who has a vision to revive hope and action? Not political leaders, who are picking the scab of resentment while social media gets rich selling distrust. (Stop the Steal! Defund the Police!) Everyday Freedom, in the tradition of Thomas Paine’s ”Common Sense,” offers a radical vision for change: Re-empower Americans in their everyday choices. Nothing will work sensibly until Americans are free to draw on their skills, intuitions, and values when confronting daily challenges. This is the only cure to alienation—and the only way to deliver good government. Embraced by some of America’s leading economists, jurists, social psychologists, and philosophers, Philip Howard’s understanding of the essential role of human agency is the key to making America a fully functioning democracy again—a place where problems can be solved and positive progress can be made.