“Peter Fenwick challenges our perception of society’s status quo. He does not espouse a new age philosophy, but uses the philosophies of the 18th and 19th century libertarians whose thinking influenced our democracies in their infancy.

He questions the distortions of their ideals that are now causing rifts and failures in our modern day world. While our current politicians, bureaucrats and business leaders maybe beyond change, these essays provide food for thought to stimulate the next generation to change our world for a better future.

Topics such as the role and responsibilities of government, the distortion of crony capitalism, the rights of lobby groups to peddle self-interest, tolerance, entrepreneurs, caliphates, the role of the family, accepting responsibility……the list goes on. But in itself it provides a curriculum for any University, year 11 or year 12 current affairs or philosophy program that all of us would love to join.”

 

Dr Hugh Seward

CEO, AFL Medical Officers Association

Adjunct Senior Research Fellow at Monash University

Chairman of the Council of Geelong College

Geelong, Victoria

 

 

 “Fenwick explores how the principles of libertarianism have been undermined by the rise of the welfare state and the increasingly interventionist governments of Western democracies. He writes of crony capitalism; the decline in civil virtues; how governments repeatedly attempt to solve social issues by regulation; and the rise of jihadist Islamism. 

If you like food for thought, then this book is a feast!  But it's not burgers and fries; rather it's a collection of small, appetising and healthy entrees that will whet your appetite for the main course - Peter Fenwick's book The Fragility of Freedom - Why Subsidiarity Matters.”

 

Graham Haines   

Principal Consultant, Plans to Reality

Melbourne, Victoria

 

 

"Never has a book been more timely and welcomed than Liberty at Risk: Tackling Today’s Political Problems. Australian Peter Fenwick addresses some of the most important and vexing problems of today in 23 short chapters. The answers rest on the foundations of Classical Liberalism and Austrian free market economics and the reader will be reminded of work of the great Henry Hazlitt. An excellent introduction for the uninitiated."

 

Dr. Mark Thornton

Senior Fellow, Ludwig von Mises Institute

Book Review Editor, Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics

Auburn, Alabama

 

 

“Peter Fenwick writes what so many of us think - he poses commonsense responses to even the most complex economic and political issues. In essence, a free market, and the freedom of individuals to act responsibly on their own behalf, should result in a better outcome for all.

Sadly, ego, pride and greed come into play, and these forces cannot operate as they should. If only politicians and big business could/would read Peter's work, examine history and learn from it, then inevitably our world would be a better place.

We probably recognize that the moral goals of the welfare state are not all wrong. It is the questions of what constitute our inalienable rights, and the methods used to ensure those rights, which distinguish libertarianism from socialist democracy.

What needs to be determined is to what extent the goals of the welfare state in terms of ensuring shelter, basic income, education, health (etc.) should constitute essential rights of the individual. And further, having been so determined - they should be guaranteed as a universal right to all, not selectively and inefficiently delivered by a bloated bureaucracy. 

 

At least, if each of us reads Peter’s work, and seriously take responsibility for ourselves and our families, and deliberates the notion of balance and fairness, then the notion of changing the world one person (our self) at a time, may make it that better place for all of us.”

 

Susan M. Renouf

Executive Director, Renouf & Associates

Brighton, Victoria

 

 

“Launched at a time when disenchantment with our current politicians and our current democratic process has plumbed new depths, Fenwick’s analyses of the assaults upon our freedoms and quality of life resulting from ‘crony capitalism’ and the failure to achieve a genuinely free market are particularly timely.

As we brace ourselves for what promises to be a torturous election process, where the sole vision for our society appears to be the re-election of existing politicians, it is perhaps increasingly important to reflect on the kind of community we really want. 

This volume will be a timely and valuable aid to such reflection.”

 

Lindsay Moore

Director, Parsifal Research Pty Ltd

Camberwell, Victoria

 

 

I love it – Liberty at Risk illustrates so many important principles of libertarianism with reference to current affairs and basic good common sense too. It is exactly the sort of book that will reach out to people who unbeknown to themselves are instinctively libertarians - people who understand that the good life comes from the lived experience not subservience to government. 

 

I was particularly taken by the line, "If we wish to convince others that our ideology is superior, then firstly we must understand its concepts and its roots, and secondly we must live its truth". Magnificent. This book will go a long way to helping us understand liberal roots and concepts.

 

Professor Sinclair Davidson

RMIT University

Melbourne, Victoria