Heavy Duty Pondering Thoughts

Okay, folks, every now and then one has to put down the fun stuff and ponder the more serious matters of life. For your consideration, I have provided you with some philosophical statements about the nature of man and the nature of government. Read through each one of them, and decide whether you agree, or disagree. If you get bogged down, a shot of bourbon might help you to the end.

1) Man cannot be a potential pawn of other men, nor be a part of a general collectivity in which the sacredness and the separate identity of individual human beings are ignored.

2) Man’s development, in both its spiritual and material aspects, is not something that can be directed by outside forces. Every man, for his individual good and for the good of his society, is responsible for his own development. The choices that govern his life are choices that he must make: they cannot be made by any other human being, or by a collectivity of human beings.

3) The economic and spiritual aspects of man’s nature are inextricably intertwined. He cannot be economically free, or even economically efficient, if he is enslaved politically; conversely, man’s political freedom is illusory if he is dependent for his economic needs on the State.

4) The first thing about man is that each mem­ber of the species is a unique creature. Man’s most sacred pos­session is his individual soul—which has an immortal side, but also a mortal one. The mortal side establishes his absolute dif­ferentness from every other human being. Only a philosophy that takes into account the essential differences between men, and, accordingly, makes provision for developing the different potentiali­ties of each man can claim to be in accord with Nature. We have heard much in our time about “the common man.” It is a con­cept that pays little attention to the history of a nation that grew great through the initiative and ambition of uncommon men. To regard man as part of an undif­ferentiated mass is to consign him to ultimate slavery.

5) State power, considered in the abstract, need not restrict freedom: but absolute state power always does. The legitimate functions of government are actually conductive to freedom. Maintaining internal order, keeping foreign foes at bay, admin­istering justice, removing obstacles to the free interchange of goods—the exercise of these powers makes it possible for men to follow their chosen pursuits with maximum freedom.

6) (There are those), on the other hand,—in the name of a concern for “human beings”—regard the satisfaction of economic wants as the dominant mis­sion of society. They are, moreover, in a hurry. So that their characteristic approach is to harness the society’s political and economic forces into a collective effort to compel “progress.” In this approach, I believe they fight against Nature.

Did you find yourself agreeing with most of the above? Then thank Barry Goldwater for articulating your conservative political philosophy in his 1960's essay, Conscience of a Conservative, from which the above quotes were taken. Liberals see inherent flaws in the human condition and are willing to use the collective, translate the "government", to fix the flaws at any cost, both in spirit and treasure. Conservatives, while recognizing the flaws in the human condition, view government as the repair shop of last resort, and are stingy in willing to give up individuality, and ultimately freedom, to force acceptance of someone else's view of progress. Once freedom is given up, it is difficult to get back. Spend it wisely. That is why I am a conservative.