Introduction
Like Sybil, I feel like I've become aware of a war.
The war is between the hypocrits who profess to know the truth, and the innocents who wonder; between the power elite of academia and politics, on the one hand, and, on the other, the individuals who are awed by the significance of the battles in which democracy asks them to take a stand, who are frustrated by the noise coming from an increasingly complex universe of information, and who want help prioritizing and simplifying it.
First Premises
The most important things to a human being are, in this order: life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness. Concerning the first, we can all agree about the importance of being alive. Hopefully, we can also agree to disagree about the nature of Number 4, or the best means of pursuing personal fulfillment. But as to the second and third items, freedom and the right to own property – as to liberty's optimization and as to the degree to which property should be private – there seems to be much confusion.
At the forefront of this debate are two competing philosophies, one represented by colonial America under the Constitution's strictest interpretation, which we could agree to call the Small Government theory. The second, or Big Government theory, is represented by the European model of representative democracy.
Ever since the 18th Century, and for whatever reason, American government has grown in size, to the point where it now rivals its European cousin. Against this newer European invasion, I would like to send Sybil out again on her precarious ride, to reawaken the good willed people's love and respect for freedom.
The war is between the hypocrits who profess to know the truth, and the innocents who wonder; between the power elite of academia and politics, on the one hand, and, on the other, the individuals who are awed by the significance of the battles in which democracy asks them to take a stand, who are frustrated by the noise coming from an increasingly complex universe of information, and who want help prioritizing and simplifying it.
First Premises
The most important things to a human being are, in this order: life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness. Concerning the first, we can all agree about the importance of being alive. Hopefully, we can also agree to disagree about the nature of Number 4, or the best means of pursuing personal fulfillment. But as to the second and third items, freedom and the right to own property – as to liberty's optimization and as to the degree to which property should be private – there seems to be much confusion.
At the forefront of this debate are two competing philosophies, one represented by colonial America under the Constitution's strictest interpretation, which we could agree to call the Small Government theory. The second, or Big Government theory, is represented by the European model of representative democracy.
Ever since the 18th Century, and for whatever reason, American government has grown in size, to the point where it now rivals its European cousin. Against this newer European invasion, I would like to send Sybil out again on her precarious ride, to reawaken the good willed people's love and respect for freedom.
posted by Katy Delay at 9:49 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home