Title Change
Published Thu, Nov 6 2008 12:02 PM
I've decided to change the name of my website. It's still my website, and the URL isn't going to change. The thing is, I've been thinking about conservatism, liberalism, capitalism, and socialism for a while, and believe that ultimately the difference between these ideas comes down to the difference between individual liberties and “collective entitlements.”
Barack Obama said that he didn't think he could attain his personal salvation without achieving a “collective salvation.” It is my firmly held belief that our personal salvation has more to do with our individual decisions, actions, and our personal, individual relationship with God than what society does. While participation in society carries with it an obligation to society, it's a personal responsibility and not a collective one.
The wealthy do have an obligation to society. They do have a moral responsibility to share the bounty that they have received with their fellow man. It is the same obligation that we all have. But it's a personal, individual responsibility, and we are all accountable as individuals to God and to ourselves, not to the poor or the “middle class.”
“From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.” It's a noble sounding sentiment. When it's adhered to out of personal responsibility and faith it's noble and supports liberty. When it's enforced by the hand of the state it's tyranny.
Our rights are ours as individuals. Exercising those rights is our responsibility as individuals. Franklin D. Roosevelt said that the right to life implied a right to a comfortable living. I disagree emphatically. If I want a comfortable living then it's my individual right and my individual responsibility to pursue it for my happiness.
When we stop viewing our personal obligations to God and to society as being our own individual responsibility then we've lost sight of what really matters. When we allow envy and covetousness to rule our political discourse, we've lost our moral compass. This envy and covetousness is encouraged by the rhetoric of “class” distinctions espoused by the left. The notion that we are somehow entitled to the fruits of the labors of others is a trap that voters have fallen into.
Barack Obama asked when did selfishness become a virtue. I would say that it became a virtue when it became politically acceptable to plunder the wealthy in the name of the “masses”. The American electorate voted for this plunder on Tuesday. The President elect has his answer.
Conservatism holds to the principles of individual liberty and individual responsibility. Liberalism holds to the principles of collective entitlements and appears to deny individual responsibility.
You know where I stand. Hence, the new name for my site.
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David responded with:
 | Aw, gee, Perri, and here I'd already started putting "The Road Ahead" posts in the can about this very topic. *heh* It seems more than a few folks are twigging to the need to return to genuinely principal First Principles, though, because I have had conversations on this topic in TRW over the last few days.
Good title change, great focus. Much needed. |
Angel responded with:
 | ah yes great re focusing...but keep fighting no matter how u label it!:) |
David responded with:
| Apropos of nothing in particular, Robert Heinlein's comment about the difference between humans and insects:
"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."
(From Starship Troopers, I think) |
Perri Nelson responded with: Hmm..
 | I've changed diapers. But I haven't planned any invasions, butchered any hogs (does dissecting a frog count?), or conned any ships, although I have sailed small boats. I designed a house once, but I doubt that it would have been practical. I'm a lousy poet, and while I know how to balance accounts it's not my favorite pastime. I've built walls, and know how to set a bone. I've watched friends die, but don't know how much comfort I gave. I've taken orders and given them. I've cooperated with others but prefer to act alone. Solving equations and analyzing new problems is fun. Pitching manure isn't much fun, but things seem to grow well in it. I make my living programming computers and I cook a mean pot of chili. I prefer not to fight if I can avoid it, but I'm not afraid to. I don't think I'm that efficient at it. I've never had to die, and haven't even been in a situation where it was likely that I'd find out if I could do it gallantly.
Maybe I'm only part human.
Maybe I need to spend some time reading Heinlein, but I've got so much other reading I need to get down too. I'm halfway through a book on textualism by Justice Scalia and halfway through another on the rule of judges by Robert Bork, and a third of the way through “1858.” I was going to follow that up with John Locke and Rousseau. I think maybe Heinlein would be a good change of pace. |
ablur responded with:
 | I see the need to restore responsibility as the key. Focusing closely may put it to personal or individual responsibility. I think that would blend into your points on Individual Liberty. I believe our sites are set on the same problem.
The decease seems pretty well set in. It may take some extraordinary measures to cure the body politic. |
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