Mr. Friscus
Governor
George Will wrote an interesting article about the subject:
The main points are as follows
Conservative vs. Progressive.
A condition (liberty) vs. A process (Democracy)
Liberty precedes Gov't/Democracy vs. Gov't/Democracy allows spaces of liberty.
Individual Freedom vs. Power of Majority to Govern
Progressives, who consider democracy the source of liberty, reverse the Founders’ premise, which was: Liberty preexists governments, which, the Declaration says, are legitimate when “instituted” to “secure” natural rights.
The perennial conflict in American politics, Sandefur says, concerns “which takes precedence: the individual’s right to freedom, or the power of the majority to govern.”
Government, the framers said, is instituted to improve upon the state of nature, in which the individual is at the mercy of the strong. But when democracy, meaning the process of majority rule, is the supreme value — when it is elevated to the status of what the Constitution is “basically about” — the individual is again at the mercy of the strong, the strength of mere numbers.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...05aa00-c4ac-11e3-bcec-b71ee10e9bc3_story.html
I often think we've become a nation so many generations removed from our founding that with each passing year it becomes easier and easier to temper or forget the main reasons why we started this America gig in the first place. Considering every other major power in the world for the past hundreds of years, Conservatism appears quite wise to be careful about giving Government too much power. As Will points out, "Democracy" isn't at all granting liberty. Take this old situation:
Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote..
-Benjamin Franklin.
This may just be my point of view, but I wonder if many "progressives" here in America truly realize the meanings of the words they use and stances they make and their rammifications.
The main points are as follows
Conservative vs. Progressive.
A condition (liberty) vs. A process (Democracy)
Liberty precedes Gov't/Democracy vs. Gov't/Democracy allows spaces of liberty.
Individual Freedom vs. Power of Majority to Govern
Progressives, who consider democracy the source of liberty, reverse the Founders’ premise, which was: Liberty preexists governments, which, the Declaration says, are legitimate when “instituted” to “secure” natural rights.
The perennial conflict in American politics, Sandefur says, concerns “which takes precedence: the individual’s right to freedom, or the power of the majority to govern.”
Government, the framers said, is instituted to improve upon the state of nature, in which the individual is at the mercy of the strong. But when democracy, meaning the process of majority rule, is the supreme value — when it is elevated to the status of what the Constitution is “basically about” — the individual is again at the mercy of the strong, the strength of mere numbers.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...05aa00-c4ac-11e3-bcec-b71ee10e9bc3_story.html
I often think we've become a nation so many generations removed from our founding that with each passing year it becomes easier and easier to temper or forget the main reasons why we started this America gig in the first place. Considering every other major power in the world for the past hundreds of years, Conservatism appears quite wise to be careful about giving Government too much power. As Will points out, "Democracy" isn't at all granting liberty. Take this old situation:
Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote..
-Benjamin Franklin.
This may just be my point of view, but I wonder if many "progressives" here in America truly realize the meanings of the words they use and stances they make and their rammifications.
