Summary Of The Seduction Of Serfdom By Warren Brooks

Critique of “The Seduction of Serfdom” Brooks, Warren. “The Seduction of Serfdom” In College Composition Workshop, by James A. Chapman, 104-105. 2nd ed. of the book. Pensacola, FL: Beka Books, 2010.

Summary of Major Ideas

In his article “The Seduction of Serfdom” Warren Brooks gives Americans a warning about how our government is gradually heading towards serfdom. Serfdom is when someone is willingly controlled by a higher power. Brooks compares this state of complacency to that of a pig. He talks about a herd of wild pigs being gradually domesticated with food. He also uses the demonstration of an alcoholic or drug addict. He warns of false promises of security and freedom, which ultimately lead to bondages. He also says that we, as a nation,

Critical Evaluation of Work Warren Brooks warns us of the false promises that our government and politicians give us. Promises of safety and freedom, which only lead to dependency on government. He also tells how we, as a society, willingly fall for these promises, and we are so eager to accept government jobs. This in theory may not seem bad, but as Brooks states “40% of us will soon be supporting to some degree, 60%. That 60% will have the political power to expropriate the productive wealth of a diminishing private sector work force” (105). In other words, the majority will be able to take the products and wealth of private businesses or people. Brooks makes some very stellar points, but he never provides a way out of this scenario. Instead, he says that it may be too late, or in his words “we may already have passed that point of no return.” (105). A way he could have given to prevent serfdom would be to spread awareness of the negative effects. According to Andrei Markevich and Ekaterina Zhuravskaya’s The Economic Effects of the Abolition of Serfdom: Evidence from the Russian Empire, the places where the serfs were used were behind in agriculture, and after serfdom the agricultural production increased