Colin Wright’s viral meme has been making the rounds again: three stick figures stand on a timeline marked “2008,” “2012,” and “2021.” The figure on the left sprints further left each year, dragging the “center” with it, while the other two try to stand their ground.
I wish people would go back to talking about Freedom, which includes respect for the rights of others, and responsibility for your own life and choices. From what I can tell Classical liberalism is the most sane view. AI says:
Classical liberalism is a political philosophy that prioritizes individual liberty, limited government, and free markets. It emphasizes the protection of private property rights, civil liberties like freedom of speech, and the rule of law. This ideology advocates for a minimal government that refrains from interfering in personal and economic activities, seeing its main role as protecting citizens' rights.
Very well said. We need a "right wing" to maintain civilizational structures and social norms and customs. We need a "left wing" to ensure these structures don't ossify and become corrupt, or trample on individual rights.
What the left has metastasized into is pure derangement. And the right has lost its way too. The players in both wings have become disgustingly corrupt. No surprise - power corrupts. We have far too powerful and expansive (and expensive) a government to live as a free people.
This thing is going to crash down around our ears if we don't stop this madness immediately - and perhaps even if we do.
You write: “There’s a path back to normal. It starts with the left doing something the right cannot do for it: cleaning house. Draw bright moral lines that reject political violence, de-platforming by mob, and the collective punishment of heretics.”
Do you really think the left is going to change without their incentives changing? Econ 1A says “unlikely.” Why change when the living is good?
Let’s focus on updating constitutional incentives at the state and federal level.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, gender, race, ideology, culture, or technology—or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;
In other words, take your thumb off the Congressional scale favoring any gender, any race, any culture, or any technology.
Helen Andrews is right: Abolish congressional favoritism.
I wish people would go back to talking about Freedom, which includes respect for the rights of others, and responsibility for your own life and choices. From what I can tell Classical liberalism is the most sane view. AI says:
Classical liberalism is a political philosophy that prioritizes individual liberty, limited government, and free markets. It emphasizes the protection of private property rights, civil liberties like freedom of speech, and the rule of law. This ideology advocates for a minimal government that refrains from interfering in personal and economic activities, seeing its main role as protecting citizens' rights.
That’s freedom.
Very well said. We need a "right wing" to maintain civilizational structures and social norms and customs. We need a "left wing" to ensure these structures don't ossify and become corrupt, or trample on individual rights.
What the left has metastasized into is pure derangement. And the right has lost its way too. The players in both wings have become disgustingly corrupt. No surprise - power corrupts. We have far too powerful and expansive (and expensive) a government to live as a free people.
This thing is going to crash down around our ears if we don't stop this madness immediately - and perhaps even if we do.
Thanks for a great article.
You write: “There’s a path back to normal. It starts with the left doing something the right cannot do for it: cleaning house. Draw bright moral lines that reject political violence, de-platforming by mob, and the collective punishment of heretics.”
Do you really think the left is going to change without their incentives changing? Econ 1A says “unlikely.” Why change when the living is good?
Let’s focus on updating constitutional incentives at the state and federal level.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, gender, race, ideology, culture, or technology—or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;
In other words, take your thumb off the Congressional scale favoring any gender, any race, any culture, or any technology.
Helen Andrews is right: Abolish congressional favoritism.