Havel on Authenticity, Responsibility, and Freedom

When ideology overtakes thinking for oneself—who is to blame? Is the state solely responsible, or do many of us outsource our moral responsibility to ideology? According to Václav Havel, the line between ruler and ruled might be less apparent than we think.

To close out this week celebrating the 10th anniversary of Havel’s Place, Libertarianism.org Director Jonathan Fortier is joined by Flagg Taylor, Associate Professor of Political Science at Skidmore College. They discuss Havel’s varied range of influences and contemporaries, the spiritual depravations of planned economies, and what it means to live authentically in both post-totalitarian and liberal consumerist societies.

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Further Reading:

-Flagg Taylor

-Havel and the Ideological Temptation by Flagg Taylor

-Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation

-Power of the Powerless by Václav Havel

-The Garden Party and The Memorandum by Václav Havel

More from Libertarianism.org:

The Velvet Revolution and Václav Havel - The Liberty Exchange

Poet Turned President: Václav Havel - Portraits of Liberty

A Monument to Free Speech: Havel’s Place - Portraits of Liberty

No Liberty without Responsibility by Paul Meany

Havel’s Masterwork: The Power of the Powerless by Jonathan Fortier

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