The True Root of Freedom | Winston Marshall meets Os Guinness | ARC Off-Stage

“He was a seven-year-old in the Russian Revolution. I was a seven-year-old in the Chinese Revolution… We both saw incredible violence. We both understood totalitarianism and the danger of Marxism.”

The moment that author and social critic Os Guinness describes his conversation with one of the greats of Western philosophy, Isaiah Berlin, he provides a window into a world that it is too easy to forget.

Many of the most eloquent defenders of Western civilisation are those who lived under Marxist tyranny. In the words of Dr Guinness: “I would never be naïve: Their revolutions never succeed. Their oppressions never end. Their promises never are fulfilled.”

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In the first of our ARC off-stage conversations, Os Guinness and Winston Marshall explore the story of the development of Marxism and Cultural Marxism, and the different stories about freedom that we have.

Is freedom found in the absence of constraint? Is it found in the absence of economic and social inequality? Or is there a deeper story to tell?

These are the questions which animate the discussion. We hope you enjoy the conversation.

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Find out more about Os Guinness’s ideas in his ARC Research papers:

- ‘Our Civilisational Moment’ - https://www.arcforum.com/research-pap...

- ‘Towards a Civil Public Square: Freedom of Religion and Diversity’ - https://www.arcforum.com/research-pap...

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Winston Marshall is a member of the ARC Advisory Board. He is a Grammy award-winning musician, writer and host of the podcast ‘Marshall Matters’. He is also co-founder of the non-profit organisation Hong Kong Link Up.

Os Guinness is an author and social critic. He holds a DPhil from Oxford University, has been a Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution, and was the lead drafter of 'The Global Charter of Freedom of Conscience and Religion'.

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ARC, the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship, is a global community with a vision of a world where every citizen can prosper, contribute, and flourish.

Join us in shaping this vision, as we draw on the best of our inheritance to build hope-filled future. Let's seek solutions to the problems we face that tap into humanity's highest virtues and remarkable capacity for innovation and ingenuity.

Learn more at https://www.arcforum.com

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00:00:00 Introduction to Os Guinness: His Journey from Revolutionary China to Philosophical Realism
00:01:20 Early Encounters with Revolution: Os Guinness on China and Marxism
00:07:00 Understanding Marxism's Evolution and the Impact of Atheism on Civilization
00:18:20 Defining National Identity and Unity: Challenges and Solutions
00:24:50 The Paradox of Freedom: Faith, Secularism, and the Future of Society