From: Platt Holden (pholden@sc.rr.com)
Date: Fri Jan 17 2003 - 12:39:38 GMT
Hi Jon:
> Platt, I would say that many of our laws, which are essential to any
> orderly society, were originally proposed in the name of "public good". The
> Declaration of Independence was written, I would agrue, in the name of
> public good. Indeed, in the immortal words of Pirsig's favorite
> philosopher, Abraham Lincoln, America is a country "dedicated to the
> *proposition* that all men are created equal." Powerful words for the ages.
Since the beginning, the emphasis in the U.S. has been on the rights of
the individual against the tyranny of the majority, the collective, the
"public." When something is proposed as good for society, such as
"diversity," or "security," individuals are likely to be subject to more
government's interference in their lives and subsequent loss of liberty.
That's why my antenna go up when a politician uses the "public good"
as a rationale for yet another government program.
In MoQ terms, the individual is the intellectual level, the public the
social, placing the individual at a higher moral level than the mob.
Platt
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