THE NEW AGE POLITICS





THE NEW AGE POLITICS
a contemporary declaration of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Dignity
by
Tobin James Mueller

Individual Dignity has Defined a New Age of Politics. See below for excerpts and chapter outline

Here are some reviews:

Paul Kurtz, Free Inquiry
Excellent. This book should definitely see the light of day.

Patrick Peterson, Heartland Institute
Mr. Mueller has done a marvelous job integrating several diverse libertarian thinkers into an enlightening and readable whole. I stayed up all night just to finish it, completely engrossed.

Dr. Murray Rothbard, Libertarian Scholar and Author
Coherent and correct.

Thomas Westgaard, Pine Tree Council, Original Publisher
This wonderful book of political philosophy outlines the contemporary rationales for freedom and the ethical underpinnings of political liberty. THE NEW AGE POLITICS is a book that challenges the reader to re-think the past, be wary of the present and sets the tone for political thought and action for the next generations. Reading THE NEW AGE POLITICS rekindled the zeal I had lost after years of listening to politicians promising freedom, but promoting centralized government. Mr. Mueller has restored my vision for America, based soundly on the sovereignty of the individual. Originally published by Amherst Press, I am happy to announce that it is in print once again.


THE NEW AGE POLITICS sells for 8.95 and can be ordered from the Artsforge Marketplace, Amazon.com, or directly from the author. (Please include $5 for shipping and handling.)
ISBN: 0942495012.


Excerpts:
• Man’s oldest and most enduring symbol is the child: growing and free, ever on the verge, striving to come into his own. The greatness of man is his impassioned, audacious, aspiring, and innocent pursuit of individual human potential. The New Age Politics shows how community grows out of such a consonant pursuit...if liberty remains the guiding principle and self-responsibility is made the ethical foundation of law.

• America was to be a land of potential, a nation whose single beacon was self-sovereignty. Immigrants came here, not to become subjects of a benevolent government, but simply to be themselves, unfettered and unafraid. Something has changed. Americans have begun policing everything from their neighbor’s bedrooms to the world’s oil fields. Somewhere a light is going out.

• Legitimate law must not dictate what a man should do with his life, but only what he cannot do to others. To limit political demands to negative obligation distinguishes government’s role as a protector of values, as opposed to a maker of values.

• Freedom is more than the state of being free from control or free from want. Freedom is a positive assertion of individual dignity, the developed power of self-determination. It is a statement of man as a moral agent. Without an ethics of aspiration, personal liberty becomes a vanity. We must be able to answer the question, “Now that we’re free, what are we going to do?” Without an answer, freedom is like the Emperor’s new clothes...all slight of hand, no substance.

• Ethical living should be a celebration of life, a heroic adventure of human triumph. It is a triumph of, not over, self. A triumph within, not over, nature. A triumph alongside, not over, others. We no longer have to choose between an ethic of selflessness and an ethic of selfishness. There is a third way: an ethic of selfestness. Selfestness is aspiration without violence. That is the ethic of the New
Age.

Chapter Headings:

Self-Responsible Man
Freedom and the Ethics of Aspiration
The History of Freedom
Liberty verses Equality
Chains of the Collective
Salvation Politics
Humanism and Unified World Order
Politics and Ethics
A Politics of Selfestness
Sovereignty and Association
Self-Ownership
Pluralistic Community
Self-Defense as a Positive Force
Justice
Law and the "Order of Consonance"
Politics of Rights
The Allocation Principle
Spontaneous Consonance
Practicality and Progress




Tobin James Mueller is a composer, lyricist, playwright, author, artist, director and producer. He has written the music & lyrics to four musicals which have appeared on New York City stages (including “Freedom’s First Light” and “Creature”). Tobin has also written 2 dramas, several books, a symphony and a ballet. In 1994, he was inducted into the United Nations’ 1994 Global 500 Roll of Honor for his work with children and the environment worldwide. Ten of his children's musicals and book & tapes are available from both Amazon.com and Center Stage Productions.

Tobin is a member of the Dramatists Guild, has served as past president of the Wisconsin Theatre Association Children’s Theatre Division and was a Wisconsin Arts Board Artist from 1989-93. Among the awards received by his internationally recognized CenterStage Children's Theatre Troupe are the 1994 Wisconsin Association of Environmental Educators’ “Earthguard Award” and the 1993 Midwest Renewable Energy Association’s “Environmental Excellence Award”. His youth musical “To Save the Planet” has been performed over 300 times in seven countries. As an outgrowth of his experimental online arts community, Artsforge.com, Tobin has collaborated with several artists in creating an ambitious plug in for the Ambrosia Software computer game, Escape Velocity. Tobin's game plug in, Xianu Override, is available as a download for Mac users at the Artsforge Spaceport. It will available soon in CD-ROM format.

Upcoming collaborations with Artsforge artists include "What Survives?", a jazz CD of Tobin's music from the Broadway show, Creature; a CD of jazz, classical, and folk musicians crossing over into progressive metal art rock with the group SILENT SUN; and several other cross-genre musical collaborations. More and more visual artists will be joining Tobin and internationally recognized artists Eric Green, Tom Dietrich and James Neff in the Artsforge Gallery. Artsforge also plans several collaborative projects using the written word and interactive computer graphics.