(Reviewer: David Saks, Vol. 64, No. 2, Rosh Hashanah 2009)
Over the past two decades Jack Bloom, a senior member of the DA caucus in the Gauteng Legislature, has acquired for himself a well-founded reputation as an astute, incisive thinker, one whose views are taken as seriously by his political opponents as they are within his party. The high profile he enjoys in the media is unusual for a regional-level politician, particularly for one in opposition, and is testimony to the effort he makes to bring the matters he deals with to the public’s attention. His latest book, Rising Tide – How freedom with responsibility uplifts everyone, is the record of a working politician who cares about issues, and who wants others to care as well. As such, it is an antidote to the political apathy that characterises all too much of South African society, particularly within the white minority.
Rising Tide consists of 46 essays, comprising a year’s worth of Bloom’s thoughts on a wide range of relevant contemporary issues. These range from critiques of South African democracy to bread and butter matters such as public transport, health care and job creation. They were originally sent out as a weekly e-mail column to senior media people and key opinion-formers, and a number were subsequently published in the mainstream press (mainly in The Citizen, for which Bloom now writes a regular column). Several sparked off lively public debate over the airwaves, as well as generating extensive email correspondence.
The book contains a thoughtful foreword by Professor Seepe, President of the SA Institute of Race Relations, who commends Bloom for his energy and initiative in stimulating much needed public debate. For his part Radio 702’s John Robbie, quoted on the back cover, describes Bloom as “a perfect example of what politicians should be”.
What makes the essays easy to read, even when the subject matter might not be to a particular individual’s taste, is Bloom’s lucid style of writing, combined with the skilful manner in which each essay is structured. The author begins by introducing a problem or question and then proceeds to answer it, marshalling a series of facts and logical argument and elegantly rounding the whole off at the end. A brief item of interest – usually the author’s sardonic comments on some of the more bizarre statements by public figures – is appended to each essay. It certainly helps that Bloom, while arguing strongly against those trends and ideas he opposes, never resorts to personal attacks or crude invective.
The book’s subtitle can be seen as Bloom’s credo as a convinced liberal who nevertheless believes that true liberalism does not mean evading responsibility. As he writes in the introduction, “I believe in individual freedom, but I have come to appreciate that it can only endure when there is a degree of self control, which is the capacity to defer instinctual gratification”. This theme – freedom with responsibility – recurs throughout the collection.
Rising Tide – How freedom with responsibility uplifts everyone by Jack Bloom, Johannesburg, 2009,138pp. Copies can be obtained from the author at JBloom@jpl.gov.za.
David Saks is Associate Director of the SA Jewish Board of Deputies and Editor of Jewish Affairs.
