1. Interesting because it represents the fulcrum between Liberal and Conservative viewponts, is the term equality. Here is misunderstanding writ large:
I guess the Declaration of Independence was wrong then,
when it said that All men were created Equal, and All were endowed with the inalienable right of Liberty.
...the two can't exist together?
Actually.....no.....they can't.
a. For the Left, equality extends beyond the view of the Founders, which is equality before the law. The concept has been modified with the growth of modern liberalism, and the egalitarian impulse that fuels it. Here we witness the constant expansion into areas in which equality of sorts is seen as desirable and/or mandatory.
b. Dewey noted in 1936 that liberalisms philosophy has rarely been clear cut, but that government should regularly intervene to help equalize conditions between the wealthy and the poor, between the overprivileged and the underprivileged.
Jo Ann Boydston, John Dewey: The Later Works, 1925-1953, p. 284-285.
2. . By the 20th century, the new equality became a threat to freedom. FDRs New Deal and Trumans Fair Deal claimed the rectification of inequalities as within the purview of government. LBJs Great Society championed the redistribution of wealth and status in the name of equality. Realize that the concomitant movement toward collectivism meant a decline in the freedoms of business, private associations, families, and individuals.
a. It seems to me, self-evident that immobilizing the producers with regulations and confiscatory taxation proves that a nation can have prosperity or equality in all aspects of living- but not both.
3. Perhaps the best way to reveal the inanity of the Lefts campaign for their view of equality is to revisit the satirical exposition of equality, written in 1961 by Kurt Vonnegut .
"Harrison Bergeron" is a satirical and dystopian science-fiction short story written by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. and first published in October 1961 The satire raises a serious question concerning desirability of social equality and the extent to which society is prepared to go to achieve it.
Harrison Bergeron - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
a. "All men are not created equal. It is the purpose of the Government to make them so." This is the premise of the Showtime film adaption of Kurt Vonnegut's futuristic short story Harrison Bergeron. The film centers around a young man (Harrison) who is smarter than his peers, and is not affected by the usual "Handicapping" which is used to train all Americans so everyone is of equal intelligence.
Harrison Bergeron (TV 1995) - IMDb
b. Kurt Vonnegut begins Harrison Bergeron this way: The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren't only equal before God and the law. They were equal in every which way. Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was quicker or stronger than anybody else. All this equality was due to the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution, and to the unceasing vigilance of agents of the United States Handicapper General.
Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut
c. The government forced each individual to wear handicaps to offset any advantage they had, so that everyone could be truly and fully equal. Beautiful people had to wear ugly masks, the strong had to wear weights, the graceful had to wear bags of birdshot, and those with above-average intelligence had to wear government transmitters in their ears that would emit sharp noises every twenty seconds to keep them from taking unfair advantage of their brains.
Kurt Vonnegut, Harrison Bergeron.
4. So is this view of equality funny? Perhaps but it reminds me more of Lord Byrons words: And if I laugh at any mortal thing, 'Tis that I may not weep.
I guess the Declaration of Independence was wrong then,
when it said that All men were created Equal, and All were endowed with the inalienable right of Liberty.
...the two can't exist together?
Actually.....no.....they can't.
a. For the Left, equality extends beyond the view of the Founders, which is equality before the law. The concept has been modified with the growth of modern liberalism, and the egalitarian impulse that fuels it. Here we witness the constant expansion into areas in which equality of sorts is seen as desirable and/or mandatory.
b. Dewey noted in 1936 that liberalisms philosophy has rarely been clear cut, but that government should regularly intervene to help equalize conditions between the wealthy and the poor, between the overprivileged and the underprivileged.
Jo Ann Boydston, John Dewey: The Later Works, 1925-1953, p. 284-285.
2. . By the 20th century, the new equality became a threat to freedom. FDRs New Deal and Trumans Fair Deal claimed the rectification of inequalities as within the purview of government. LBJs Great Society championed the redistribution of wealth and status in the name of equality. Realize that the concomitant movement toward collectivism meant a decline in the freedoms of business, private associations, families, and individuals.
a. It seems to me, self-evident that immobilizing the producers with regulations and confiscatory taxation proves that a nation can have prosperity or equality in all aspects of living- but not both.
3. Perhaps the best way to reveal the inanity of the Lefts campaign for their view of equality is to revisit the satirical exposition of equality, written in 1961 by Kurt Vonnegut .
"Harrison Bergeron" is a satirical and dystopian science-fiction short story written by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. and first published in October 1961 The satire raises a serious question concerning desirability of social equality and the extent to which society is prepared to go to achieve it.
Harrison Bergeron - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
a. "All men are not created equal. It is the purpose of the Government to make them so." This is the premise of the Showtime film adaption of Kurt Vonnegut's futuristic short story Harrison Bergeron. The film centers around a young man (Harrison) who is smarter than his peers, and is not affected by the usual "Handicapping" which is used to train all Americans so everyone is of equal intelligence.
Harrison Bergeron (TV 1995) - IMDb
b. Kurt Vonnegut begins Harrison Bergeron this way: The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren't only equal before God and the law. They were equal in every which way. Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was quicker or stronger than anybody else. All this equality was due to the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution, and to the unceasing vigilance of agents of the United States Handicapper General.
Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut
c. The government forced each individual to wear handicaps to offset any advantage they had, so that everyone could be truly and fully equal. Beautiful people had to wear ugly masks, the strong had to wear weights, the graceful had to wear bags of birdshot, and those with above-average intelligence had to wear government transmitters in their ears that would emit sharp noises every twenty seconds to keep them from taking unfair advantage of their brains.
Kurt Vonnegut, Harrison Bergeron.
4. So is this view of equality funny? Perhaps but it reminds me more of Lord Byrons words: And if I laugh at any mortal thing, 'Tis that I may not weep.
