George H. Smith has 9 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 6 narrators. The most-rated is The Text of the United States Constitution.
Common Sense and the Declaration of Independence (Knowledge Products) Giants of Political Thought Series
Summary
Common Sense examines how Americans defended the right to resist unjust laws, and how this right of resistance was transformed into a right of revolution. It examines Thomas Paine's views on the difference between society and government, his defense of republican government, his total rejection of hereditary monarchy, and his belief that Americans should take up arms against the English government. The Declaration of Independence articulates the principles of the American Revolution. This audiobook discusses natural rights; government by consent; the social contract; the difference between alienable and inalienable rights; and the right of revolution against oppressive governments.
©1985 Knowledge Products, Inc. (P)1985 Knowledge Products, Inc.
Reflections on the Revolution in France & Rights of Man
Summary
The Giants of Political Thought series is an easy and entertaining way to broaden your mind and your awareness of great ideas. Reflections on the Revolution in France is a slashing attack on the French Revolution by one of Britain’s most famous statesmen. Liberty and social order, Burke argues, are maintained by the traditional rights and duties embedded in custom and law. And when these traditions are overthrown in revolutions, society is threatened with chaos, bloodshed and despotism. In Rights of Man, Thomas Paine argues that the French Revolution was based on the same principles as the American Revolution: natural rights, an implied “social contract,” and the right of revolution against oppressive governments. Paine, unlike Burke, sees government as the primary threat to social order. He has little regard for traditional institutions, if those institutions are oppressive and unjust.
©1986 Knowledge Products, Inc. (P)1986 Knowledge Products, Inc.
Neither Bullets Nor Ballots: Essays on Voluntaryism
Summary
The Voluntaryists are libertarians who have organized to promote non-political strategies to achieve a free society. We reject electoral politics, in theory and in practice as incompatible with libertarian goals. Governments must cloak their actions in an aura of moral legitimacy in order to sustain their power, and political methods invariably strengthen that legitimacy. Voluntarists seek instead to delegitimize the state through education, and we advocate withdrawal of the cooperation and tacit consent on which state power ultimately depends.
©1983 Carl Watner (P)2018 Rodger Paxton
The Constitutional Convention
Summary
In 1783, America emerged from a long and bitter war for independence. The 13 colonies were now 13 sovereign states, bound together by the Articles of Confederation. After years of war, men like Thomas Jefferson saw the possibility of something new under the sun: a government which derived its just power from the consent of the governed. But the Continental Congress was bankrupt from the war, and many of the states refused to contribute money or to cooperate with each other. In May 1787, delegates gathered in Philadelphia to attend a convention. After more than three months of passionate debate, conflict, and compromise, the United States Constitution was passed, establishing a national government. But to become the law of the land, the Constitution had to be independently ratified by at least nine of the 13 states.
©1987 Carmichael and Carmichael, Inc. and Knowledge Products (P)1987 Carmichael and Carmichael, Inc. and Knowledge Products
Freethought and Freedom
Summary
Liberty of conscience and freedom of thought are twin, core components of modern life in societies across the world. The ability to pursue one's vision of the right and the good, coupled with liberty to pursue individual reason and enlightenment, helped produce so much of modern life that we may be apt to forget that libertarian philosophy was not dictated by Nature. Freethought and Freedom surveys the long history of religious and intellectual liberty, exploring their key ideas along the way.
©2017 Cato Institute (P)2017 Cato Institute
Civil Disobedience and the Liberator (Knowledge Products) Giants of Political Thought Series
Summary
Civil Disobedience is Henry David Thoreau's argument for the deliberate violation of laws for reasons of conscience. Thoreau's concept is based on the belief that no law should command blind obedience, and that non-cooperation with unjust laws is both morally correct and socially beneficial. The Liberator was a leading voice for abolitionism in the nineteenth century. Abolitionism called for the immediate emancipation of slaves, based on the principle that individuals own their bodies, labor, and the fruits of their labor. Abolitionists vigorously opposed gradualists, who called for phasing out slavery over a long period of time; they also opposed colonizationists, who wished to relocate former slaves to another country.
©1985 Carmichael & Carmichael, Inc. and Knowledge Products (P)1985 Carmichael & Carmichael, Inc. and Knowledge Products
Self-Interest and Social Order in Classical Liberalism
Summary
There is a well-worn image and phrase for libertarianism: "atomized individualism". This hobgoblin has spread so thoroughly that even some libertarians think their philosophy unreservedly supports private persons, whatever the situation, whatever their behavior. Smith's Self-Interest and Social Order in Classical Liberalism, corrects this misrepresentation with careful intellectual surveys of Hume, Smith, Hobbes, Butler, Mandeville, and Hutcheson and their respective contributions to political philosophy.
©2017 Cato Institute (P)2017 Cato Institute
The Wealth of Nations
Summary
An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations is the foundation of classical economics, and it has influenced a broad range of thinkers. In it, Adam Smith stresses the importance of the division of labor to economic progress. He criticizes the arguments for economic planning and offers a detailed theoretical and historical case for free trade. Far more than a work on economic theory, The Wealth of Nations contains philosophy, history, and political theory. This program discusses Adam Smith's general approach to philosophy and how The Wealth of Nations fits into that approach. It then goes on to cover some major themes in The Wealth of Nations, a lengthy and complex book. Smith's sometimes difficult arguments are given with the background necessary for comprehension.
1985 by Carmichael & Carmichael, Inc. / Knowledge Products; (P)Blackstone Audio Inc.
The Text of the United States Constitution
Summary
The United States Constitution both established both a strong central government and protected states' rights. But to say that something is of two parts is not to say that the parts are equal. Advocates of state sovereignty believed the Constitution created an executive power that was so strong it might as well have been a monarchy, while advocates of national government felt that a strong executive was essential to steer America through crises. Between these two positions, the living body of the Constitution was sculpted. Over and over, the delegates to the Philadelphia Convention clashed and compromised. Slavery, a bill of rights, legislative representation - all the battles over these issues are enshrined in the language of the Constitution. To fully appreciate the Constitution, it is necessary to understand the questions it sought to resolve. Produced by Pat Childs with music by Ralph Childs.
©1987 Carmichael & Carmichael, Inc. / Knowledge Products (P)1987 Carmichael & Carmichael, Inc. / Knowledge Products