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Tuesday, August 7. 2007

Liberty

John Stuart Mill's ideas of liberty are obsolete, says Mr. Hattersley in The Guardian.

He claims that times have changed, and people need more statism and less personal freedom.

He says people are more interdependent that they were in 1856. I see no reason at all to believe that but, if they are, it is because Western governments have made people more dependent, stifled their instincts for self-reliance, and crippled their spirits by training them to look to government for their wants and needs.

And does Mr. Hattersley include himself as one of those needing a liberty-depriving state? I doubt it. Rather, I suspect he sees himself as one of that superior sort who should be telling me how to run my life. Frankly, I find this variety of condescension  frightening, and the desire to control others contemptible.

Tim Worstall discusses. The reason I post this is because it sounds so much like the American Left - and as an excuse to link to Mill's essay.

Posted by The Barrister in Politics at 12:36 | Comments (10) | Trackbacks (0)

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I must apologize to a degree. I make many comments that could easily go unpublished. However when I see that our hosts have gone to the trouble of providing a topic, especially a topic as rich as this on I feel compelled to not allow the enumerator to remain on zero.

What I have to say about Mr. Hattersley in The Guardian and his observations "On Liberty" aren't really very long.
The man is a boob, the Guardian rarely worth reading, and his assessment of how much liberty we need is absurd.

None of the above is particularly enlightening to the question posed but it will accomplish my task. The enumerator will now post at minimum of 1 instead of a zero.
(apologies for ending with an Arabic concept)
#1 Habu on 2007-08-07 17:52 (Reply)
Yeah, gotta get rid of them nasty zeros.
#1.1 BD on 2007-08-07 18:09 (Reply)
Certainly we are more globally interdependent, but that does not come at a cost of personal freedom. Statism at this point would be international suicide if we gave in to that notion.
#2 D. Delaney on 2007-08-07 18:03 (Reply)
History Channel is running a show "Stalin --Man of Steel", which is absolutely mind-bending in its almost incredible horror. The state run amok destroys people wholesale, without rhyme or reason.
#3 buddy larsen on 2007-08-07 19:40 (Reply)
I read where the Russian people now long for another Stalin since he moved the country forward.
Of course whats another 30-50 million dead Russians to "advance " things.
#3.1 Habu on 2007-08-07 20:36 (Reply)
Wish you'd seen the show. Pictures and witness interviews add sooooo much to the sterile numbers.
#3.1.1 buddy larsen on 2007-08-07 21:35 (Reply)
Jumping off from D. Delaney's comment - we are more globally interdependent. But I am not dependent on my immediate neighbors for anything, in contrast to most folks throughout history. The freedoms are different, but that is hardly a reason to despise them and say they don't exist.

Is the net effect more freedom, or less? With such tradeoffs, all measurement becomes suspect. But preserving independence at the next fork in the road is still a positive good.
#4 Assistant Village Idiot (Link) on 2007-08-07 22:43 (Reply)
Surrendering political power over your life means someone else gains that political power, and the surrender creates nigh-insurmountable moral hazard for both parties.
#5 buddy larsen on 2007-08-08 00:14 (Reply)
"Surrendering political power over your life means someone else gains that political power, and the surrender creates nigh-insurmountable moral hazard for both parties."

Malloch Brown thinks UK should cede its UN vote to the EU.
no mention of France's EU vote in the hubbub.
#6 gumshoe on 2007-08-08 13:24 (Reply)
Malloch Brown is George Soros' and the Kennedy wing's boy. His mentor is Richard Holbrooke, who'd've been Kerry's (after the Sandy Burglary eliminated Mr Berger), and will likely be Hillary's, Sec of State.

These are the uber Tranzis, make no mistake. When you see them coming, grab your wallet and run for the hills. They see private enterprise as their only competitor for world rule.
#7 buddy larsen on 2007-08-08 15:32 (Reply)

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