Synchronicity: Red, Blue and the Great Debate

Thomas Paine (left) and Edmund Burke

By Craig Hatkoff

Irwin Kula (“the literal rabbi”) and I are always seeking insights into and discussing polarization in America whether it be conversations with our friend Glenn Beck (Irwin has become a regular on Glenn’s show) or discussions about how population density, industrialization or agrarian geography (i.e., rice versus wheat) influence the politics of our world views.

Today we had one of our extraordinarily surreal moments in one of our phone conversations. (Irwin is vacationing in Miami and I am in NYC.) He excitedly started to tell me about an amazing exchange he had just had with someone named Skip Simonds (a cold call he had received) about political polarization after Skip saw him on a segment with Glenn on The Blaze. I immediately jumped in. “Geez, that just reminded me, I am reading a great book about the seeds of liberalism and conservatism that I’ve been meaning to tell you about. Give me a second to get the book since I keep forgetting!”

Levin crisply couches the discussion through the lens of Edmund Burke and Thomas Paine’s lively 18th century debates about the French Revolution. It is a page turner for political theory geeks. Available on Kindle but let us know what you think.

– Craig Hatkoff