Paul Nevins

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Location

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Birthday

October 29

Bio

Boston lawyer Paul Nevins is the author of a timely and controversial new book. Entitled "The Politics of Selfishness: How John Locke’s Legacy Is Paralyzing America "(Greenwood /Praeger/ABC-CLIO), the book examines American culture from the perspective of political theory. The questions asked include: Are the political and legal systems of this country on the verge of implosion? Why can’t self-regulation of the market economy work? Why are American labor unions and employees virtually powerless to effect change in the workplace? Why has economic inequality continued to grow and poverty become intractable in the United States? Why do lobbyists and special interests now exercise disproportionate influence over public policy? Why is America’s public education system dysfunctional and why does it fail to educate our citizens in contrast to Western Europe? Why is lawlessness so pervasive in this country? The "Politics of Selfishness" directly addresses a number of the questions which dominate contemporary American politics. The book attempts to provide answers based upon a coherent perspective which is admittedly outside the paradigm of what passes for conventional political discourse in this culture. The book examines the reasons for the inability of the political system of the United States to address, in any meaningful way, the problems which underlie the questions asked, despite the evidence of widespread suffering, disillusionment and anxiety among the American populace. Nevins’ book also predicts, based upon the existing evidence which is examined, that, if left uncorrected, things are likely to get even worse. The author explores a theme which runs throughout American history, politics, economics and law. The central thesis of this important and unconventional work is that the United States has begun to experience a number of profound, interrelated problems that are caused, both directly and indirectly, by the country's dogmatic and often unconscious adherence, collectively as a political culture and individually as Americans, to the political philosophy of John Locke. That ideology, which is the bedrock upon which the American liberal democracy has been founded, asserts that human beings are by nature solitary, aggrandizing individuals. Hence, preoccupation with the self in all of its manifestations and attributes - as opposed to the whole, the public interest - has become the primary focus by which political, economic and societal decisions are made. Consequently, the preferred form of social and political relationships with others, including the state as the organized expression of political society, is solely contractual and is designed primarily to protect private property in all of its forms. The Politics of Selfishness provides compelling historic and contemporary evidence that U.S. institutions, at all levels, are failing because of the country's uncritical embrace of the anti-social individualism which is John Locke’s legacy. As such, the book documents the malaise so evocatively described by Jonathan Franzen in his most recent work of fiction, "Freedom: The Novel." Paul L. Nevins of Boston has been a trial attorney in private practice since 1982. His areas of concentration include public and private sector employment law and litigation, related civil rights and constitutional law claims, business disputes, and related tort and contract claims. He was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar, Federal District Court for Massachusetts and First Circuit Court of Appeals bars in 1982. Mr. Nevins is a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association, the American Association for Justice and the National Employment Lawyers Association ( NELA ). He is also member of the American Bar Association, and serves on its national advisory committee. Prior to becoming a lawyer, Paul Nevins taught History and English in the Boston Public Schools from 1971 through 1982. He also taught the "National Street Law" project, and a moral development curriculum which he created based upon his work with Dr. Lawrence Kohlberg. In addition, he served as a consultant to the Education Development Center. While teaching, Mr. Nevins served as a member of the Executive Board of the Boston Teachers Union, Local 66, AFT/AFL-CIO, and as the first chairman of its desegregation committee. He was also a delegate to the Massachusetts Federation of Teachers and the American Federation of Teachers. Mr. Nevins is a former member of the Executive Board of the Citywide Education Coalition, where he served as chairman of its personnel and grievance committee. Paul Nevins served as a conscript in the United States Army from 1968 to 1970 as a personnel specialist and as a German language translator-interpreter. In 1969, he was a founder and first chairman of GIs for Peace at Fort Bliss, Texas. This was the first organization of active duty soldiers who publicly opposed the Vietnam War. Nevins earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree with honors in 1966 from Suffolk University. He received a Master's Degree in Politics from New York University in 1968, with a concentration in Political Philosophy and Methodology of the Social Sciences. He wrote his Master's Thesis on the politics of T.H. Green. Later, in 1982, he graduated from Suffolk University Law School and received a Juris Doctor Degree. Mr. Nevins resides in the West Roxbury neighborhood of Boston. He is married to Virginia E. ( Davis ) Nevins. They have two daughters, and a grandson and granddaughter. Attorney Nevins is a member of the Dean's Advisory Committee for the College of Arts and Sciences at Suffolk University, and the Alumni Board of Directors for the College of Arts and Sciences.