02-05-2021, 07:48 AM
(02-04-2021, 03:07 PM)mamabug Wrote: On another thread, Eric asked why I was afraid of the Left when in power and I think this statement from the article illustrates it:
[he signed it] even while admitting the new edict might clash with the First Amendment and be struck down as unconstitutional.
So he is willing to sign something he admits violates individual civil rights that will impose financial penalties and consequences on anyone who violates it and force them to undertake further financial costs simply to fight for the rights he, himself, admits they have. This is the type of illiberal policy being put forth that appalls me regardless of which side it comes from. It is the spirit of our current age that has it coming from the left more than the right.
This is the classic argument of the ACLU, among others. I've made it myself. In short, there is no Left/Right split here, but there are competing interests. Adherence to absolute rights eventually devolves to anarchy -- the ultimate state of me-over-thee. Of course, the opposite is tyranny. In between is a happy medium, but not a stable one. In a placid society, the libertarian ideal is workable, because 'the people' self-regulate. That ideal doesn't work most of the time, and right now, at this point in time, we're closer to the other extreme. That's the entre state to a 1T, and the reason they are the way they are -- rigid and rule-based.
If you have a way to achieve and maintain the ideal state, then you should advocate that. Otherwise, society will oscillate from more open to more closed as it always has.
Intelligence is not knowledge and knowledge is not wisdom, but they all play well together.