A new political book about hope just arrived..It was an encouraging read from Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida, entitled “The Courage to Be Free.” Even though the book is an American treatise, the cultural challenges and needed prescriptions seem most relevant to Canada. I thoroughly enjoyed it and highly recommend it. .So who is this man, what makes him worth studying and where is the message for Canada?.Ron DeSantis is Florida’s forty-sixth governor and one of the few American statesmen to receive bipartisan praise for his leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic. An honours graduate of Yale University and Harvard Law School, he served as an officer in the U.S. Navy and an adviser to a SEAL commander in Iraq, earning the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal and the Bronze Star. He also served as a federal prosecutor..In 2012 he was elected to Congress, where he served on the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. He advocated for congressional term limits and a balanced budget amendment. He also spearheaded oversight efforts to expose malfeasance in the IRS and in agencies involved in abusing their authority during the manufacture of the discredited Russia collusion conspiracy theory. And his book speaks about the governance challenges that are similar to the Canadian dilemma, where the ‘offenders’ have been in charge, and the direction of government has been very wrong..Particularly, DeSantis mentions the China problem, as well as the “woke” subversives within our respective governments.. DeSantis book coverThe Courage to be Free. Governor Ron DeSantis's manifesto to America will resonate with many Canadians. .On China, he says: "The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) represents the most significant threat — economically, culturally, and militarily — the United States has faced since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Unlike with the Soviet Union, this time we created that threat. Ruling class American elites in government and business pursued a post-Cold War strategy of empowering the CCP by admitting China into the World Trade Organization and granting it "most favored nation" trading status on the theory capitalism would exert a democratizing influence on the Red Dragon. This enriched large corporations in the United States, further eroded America's industrial base, and bolstered the CCP, which grew more authoritarian as China gained more power."."But letting the CCP into international organizations to try to make China less corrupt actually led to the corruption of our international organizations and made China more prosperous. The fact the US government has not held the CCP accountable for its actions in covering up the origins of the coronavirus has been a major failure."."While the CCP is primarily an issue for the federal government to manage, I wanted Florida to do what we could within the confines of state power to push back against CCP influence. I signed a series of legislative reforms designed to end the access that foreign adversaries such as the CCP have had in Florida. These reforms prohibited agreements between public institutions and the CCP and imposed stiffer penalties for foreign espionage and the stealing of trade secrets."."One of the important parts of the reforms was the ban on Confucius Institutes (or similar outfits), which are a CCP propaganda and influence operation inside the United States. At one point, there were more than 100 Confucius Institutes on college campuses and hundreds in K-to-12 schools throughout the United States. These institutes are billed as vehicles for "cultural exchange”, but in reality, they represent a CCP influence operation designed for enhancing China's "soft power." This understandably raised alarms at the close relationship between the CCP and American higher education. The CCP has been very deft at infiltrating institutions in the US to wield influence and conduct espionage. Policy at the federal level needs to do a much better job of combating CCP influence across a range of institutions. In Florida, at least, we take the CCP's influence very seriously.".The DeSantis formula then, is active democracy and bold leadership rather than traditional accommodation and compromise. He further says: "What Florida has done is establish a blueprint for governance that has produced tangible results while serving as a rebuke to the entrenched elites who have driven our nation into the ground. Florida is proof positive we the people are not powerless in the face of these elites.".Who exactly are these elites? In an essay in the American Spectator in 2010, Angelo Codevilla identified the source of America's political divisions and policy failures as the ideological, incompetent and self-interested "ruling class" that has consolidated power over American society in the past 50 years. These elites control the federal bureaucracy, lobby shops on K Street (a metonym for Washington's lobbying industry), big business, corporate media, Big Tech companies, and universities. Its members are products of America's ideological higher education system, and consequently are united by a common set of ideas and "remarkably uniform guidance, as well as tastes and habits." This ideological uniformity transcends divisions based on geography, ethnicity and traditional religion; indeed, the ideology is the elites' de facto religion..These elites are 'progressives' who believe our country should be managed by an exclusive cadre of experts who wield authority through an unaccountable and massive administrative state. They tend to view average Americans with contempt, believe in the need for wholesale social engineering of American society, and consider themselves entitled to wield power over others..While they are elites, in this context, the word "elite" does not signify someone of tremendous aptitude, great wealth, or major achievement. Instead, it signifies someone who shares the ideology and outlook of the ruling class, which one can demonstrate by "virtue signaling" (i.e., speaking the "in" language) and by seeing Americans as subjects to be ruled over, not as citizens to be represented..The book is a brief history of a modern man with traditional ideals and principles. Governor DeSantis led one of the largest states in the country through a dark and difficult time. It is a story of how it was done, and is part biography and part vision. For anyone who was socially concerned during the COVID insanity and was asking questions that nobody in the media seemed to be asking, the book is great..Anyone who's questioning where the “woke stuff” is going should also read. It could be said it's a brief blueprint for America, and also the free world. When the New York Times is negatively critical of the book, one has to know DeSantis is on the right track..Ron DeSantis constructed a movement by doing what was constitutionally required. Rather than being hopeful the polls would support him, he didn’t even regard them. From the start to the final paragraph, he delivered a message of how one can find the support to do what is best for the citizens that he is accountable to, by being open and honest, which takes political courage..The governor describes how he was guided by the Constitution, real evidence, and common sense. Since his resounding second-term electoral win, he is viewed as more than a politician, but rather a statesman with a focus on what is best for the people of his state..In the world of Ron DeSantis, it's deeds that count. His governorship begins with a determination to defend the rights of Floridians. No polls are taken, and the DeSantis career will live or die based on the results. He describes how the hurtful political left was stopped, parental rights were defended, and mask and vaccine mandates and shutdowns were ended. Then a step further, elites were blocked from getting businesses and employers to privately impose radical ideological restrictions on workers and customers. Floridians kept their jobs, schools stayed open, and the elderly were protected with COVID metrics better than the shutdown states..At first, winning with less than a .4% margin in the 2018 vote, he points to researching the limits of the executive authority, and then having the courage to use it actively and wisely. Then the record of his administration brings him a resounding second-term electoral approval. The dispute with Disney is clarified, their Mickey Mouse City is ended only when the company fights him, loses, then goes beyond its business purpose and tries to repeal parental rights laws just passed by the legislature..This is the only politician’s book that writes of his accomplishments, but also concludes, “If doing the right thing results in losing an election, then so be it.” We need more leaders with that basic approach..In this book, one will find a wealth of reasons why the federal government has failed the people. DeSantis explains how he took on the elite corrupt media, powerful corporations, and entrenched proletarianism in government offices, to protect the rights of Florida's citizens. Many seem convinced he can do the same for all of America..Ron DeSantis appears to have the courage of his principles, and the common sense to lead out of the crazy hellhole the political left has flung society into..It is well worth the time and money, written by someone who could be the next president of the USA. And as a Canadian, it is a huge encouragement that he could be..The Courage to be Free — Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Revival - Ron DeSantis.Harper Collins Publisher 2023 HB ISBN 978-0-00-861018-0
