The Constitution commemorates our revolution, and, as Madison states in the Federalist, "is the greatest of all reflections on human nature
human beings are not angels.
While humans are not perfectible, they are capable of self government. The republican form of government presupposes this idea of humans.
But the Communist Revolution is based on the idea of transforming human nature. The New Soviet man or New Soviet person (Russian: новый советский человек
, as postulated by the ideologists of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, was an archetype of a person with certain qualities that were said to be emerging as dominant among all citizens of the Soviet Union, irrespective of the country's long-standing cultural, ethnic, and linguistic diversity, creating a single Soviet people, Soviet nation.
Leon Trotsky wrote in his Literature and Revolution:
"The human species, the sluggish Homo sapiens, will once again enter the stage of radical reconstruction and become in his own hands the object of the most complex methods of artificial selection and psychophysical training... Man will make it his goal...to create a higher sociobiological type, a superman, if you will"
New Soviet man - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Progressives, of couse, have a similar view: human nature is plastic; politics is a means of perfecting man!
So, where is the shock when the government of Australia creates a Minister of Respect?
It is something straight out of a George Orwell novel: the Victorian government has appointed a member of parliament to become Minister for Respect. This has to be a national first, perhaps a world first, but -- and with all due respect to the minister himself -- it has to be one of the weirder ideas to emerge from our socially ambitious government.
Orwell, in his celebrated novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, had four ministries in evil Oceania: the Ministry of Love, the Ministry of Peace, the Ministry of Plenty, and the Ministry of Truth. They were part of the totalitarian apparatus of Big Brother, meant to keep the populace in check.
The motives of the Victorian Premier are hopefully more benign, but the same concerns arise here: a Ministry of Respect? Isnt that pushing us a little too hard? Could we not settle for a Ministry of Niceness, or a Ministry of Friendliness, or a Ministry of Lets Just All Get Along? Even a Ministry of Silly Walks -- at least it would give Victorians a good laugh."
The Australian state of Victoria has appointed a Minister for Respect. He might as well sing for it.
While humans are not perfectible, they are capable of self government. The republican form of government presupposes this idea of humans.
But the Communist Revolution is based on the idea of transforming human nature. The New Soviet man or New Soviet person (Russian: новый советский человек
Leon Trotsky wrote in his Literature and Revolution:
"The human species, the sluggish Homo sapiens, will once again enter the stage of radical reconstruction and become in his own hands the object of the most complex methods of artificial selection and psychophysical training... Man will make it his goal...to create a higher sociobiological type, a superman, if you will"
New Soviet man - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Progressives, of couse, have a similar view: human nature is plastic; politics is a means of perfecting man!
So, where is the shock when the government of Australia creates a Minister of Respect?
It is something straight out of a George Orwell novel: the Victorian government has appointed a member of parliament to become Minister for Respect. This has to be a national first, perhaps a world first, but -- and with all due respect to the minister himself -- it has to be one of the weirder ideas to emerge from our socially ambitious government.
Orwell, in his celebrated novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, had four ministries in evil Oceania: the Ministry of Love, the Ministry of Peace, the Ministry of Plenty, and the Ministry of Truth. They were part of the totalitarian apparatus of Big Brother, meant to keep the populace in check.
The motives of the Victorian Premier are hopefully more benign, but the same concerns arise here: a Ministry of Respect? Isnt that pushing us a little too hard? Could we not settle for a Ministry of Niceness, or a Ministry of Friendliness, or a Ministry of Lets Just All Get Along? Even a Ministry of Silly Walks -- at least it would give Victorians a good laugh."
The Australian state of Victoria has appointed a Minister for Respect. He might as well sing for it.