The God of the Machine
The God of the Machine offers an unusual historical theory as well as a brave defence of individuality as the wellspring of moral and political development. When Isabel Paterson's work was published in 1943, it provided new intellectual support for the endangered American belief in individual rights, limited government, and economic freedom. Paterson would not have been surprised by today's collectivised nations' crisis; in The God of the Machine, she explored the reasons for collectivism's failure. Her book propelled her to the forefront of the global free-enterprise movement.
Paterson sees the individual creative mind as the dynamo of history, and respect for God-given rights as the prerequisite for the enormous release of energy that produced the modern world. She regards capitalist institutions as the machinery through which human energy operates, and government as a tool that should be used only to restrict power to activities that endanger personal liberty.
Paterson extends her broad theory to specific challenges in modern life, such as education, social welfare, and economic misery. She harshly condemns everything but the most minor applications of government, including those that most people have long taken for granted. The God of the Machine provides a challenging viewpoint on the ongoing global debate over the nature of freedom, the uses of power, and the prospects for human advancement.
The extensive introduction to The God of the Machine by Stephen Cox offers a detailed and illuminating study of Paterson's colourful life and career. He described The God of the Machine as "rhapsody, satire, polemic, lyrical storytelling" rather than "simply theory." Paterson's work is still relevant today because "it exposes the moral and practical failures of collectivism, failures that are now almost universally acknowledged but far from universally understood." Students of American history, political theory, and literature will find the book invaluable.
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