August 14, 2004
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VIEWPOINTS
As I understand it, occasional moderately raised blood pressure is good for you, but being continually in that state is undesirable.
The Libertarian viewpoint envisioning a severely limited government is a nice dream for those who feel that the government (local, state, national, wherever) somehow impinges on them and denies them the right to LL&POH. In most cases the Libertarians seem to feel this has to do with the denial of right to use or confiscation of their property or treasure (or part of it).
As far as I can see that viewpoint rests on some shaky assumptions:
1. That all persons are, or start off, equal in their abilities and do not need protection from each other.
2. That, given the libertarian millenium, all persons will act for their personal good and will see that as including not impinging on one another.
3. That, in such a world, necessary cooperation such as exchange of services, importation of necessities, will proceed according to classic economic theory and no member will have the desire or opportunity to exploit another.
These Utopian dreams have been part of mankind's wishes for as long as we've been around and despite the imaginings of the Enlightenment philosophers have never, so far as I can see, been a reality.
I used to set my very bright HS seniors the task of creating their idea of a model utopia, giving them all the references that were readily available. Some of their ideas were fascinating and I'm sure some of them still hold some of their dreams. Given that most adolescents feel constrained and restricted, many of their utopias were "basic Libertarian". I always saw my job as encouraging their cognitive development while at the same time pointing out historic practicality. I think most of them thought I was too idealistic.
I probably was, but I was (and am) not so idealistic as to think that modern society in a country of a very diverse 270M+doesn't need a pretty complex set of controls to keep it from general collapse and breakdown. Even Heaven has (presumably) an all-powerful ruler who, despite some evidence to the contrary, is beneficent; and the U.S. ain't heaven.
In short, the reason we have an intruding government, is because we feel we need one. What we argue over is the nature of the intrusion. Stem cell research and abortion should be eliminated;or controlling the predations of the rich and avaricious on the poor and helpless. You take your choice.
Incidentally, concerning universal health care: In every and all countries with it, there has never been any popular uprising demanding that it be eliminated, quite the contrary, the government that tried would probably fail. The same is true of Social Security.
As far as the relationship of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution to our present social situation:
The constitution is just that, a very successful, pretty general framework for the governing of a country. the fact that with only 25 virtual amendments (two cancel each other) a framework written for a small agrarian collection of communities still works in one of the largest and certainly the most powerful country in the world speaks for its excellence.
The Declaration of Independence is a remarkable clear, concise statement of our fundamental moral basic values and has been the inspiration for many similar documents throughout the world for the past 228 years.
That's enough of a rant for today. Maybe I'll post this on my website.
Comments (2)
Is the US the greatest country on Earth? I dunno - maybe, maybe not. There sure are a lot of people trying to get here - legally or illegally - that's for sure. The US will never be, "perfect" whatever that is. Of course, how many people are perfect? None, as far as I know.
There are a lot of nice ideas out there - one being universal health care. Perhaps there is no, "official" version of such health care in the US - but I have known people with no health insurance and no money who have gotten treatment - for free - at some really nice hospitals. Maybe the health care one receives at such hospitals is not the swankiest available, but hey - at least they get treated. Canada has universal health care - hope you live long enough to receive the care you need once you are on their, "list".
I read the definition of, "Utopia" a while ago - it means, "nowhere"
I know some Canadians, I've never heard one of them complain or express the idea that their healthcare system is not better than ours.
The concept of Utopia goes back as far as Plato at least (Atlantis). Modern Utopians have included Karl Marx (he thought it was inevitable), Fidel Castro (he has lost more that 10% of his country's population. they, mostly poor farmers, simply fled), Gandhi (he was assassinated), and Mao (he managed to disrupt the lives of hundreds of millions of those he intended to help). No utopian system can last very long, probably because it's a pure ideal state which doesn't account for human vagaries.