Equality is Different from Liberty

I usually equate these two words as both sides of the same coin, but I wonder. I read a book review of Our Declaration: a Reading of the Declaration of Independence in Defense of Equality in the 9/22/14 issue of National Review.

The problem lies how the principle of “equality” is defined. It certainly does not mean equality of wealth, knocking out the legs of our progressive income tax. It does not mean equality of outcome in our lives, therefore canceling out the justification for welfare and transfer payments of various types. To others, it means equality of opportunity, which is very much different.

Liberty, however, has a rather concrete definition. We can live our lives as we wish, which means limited government power. We can choose whatever type of light bulb and toilet we want. We can be as careful or reckless as we wish. We can eat as much unhealthy food as desired.

I have always thought of “liberty” and “equality” in the same sentence. My thinking has changed: these 2 principles are entirely different, and have nothing to do with each other.  

The Most Brilliant Thing Ever Said About the Federal Deficit

I call your attention to an article “Our Democratic Debt” in the July 21,2014 issue of National Review by Christopher DeMuth. The subtitle is “We're borrowing to fund personal benefits not public goods”.

The Debate

If you spend any time at all listening to economic debates and opinions, you will mostly encounter a cacophony: Keynesians and Austrians, Krugman and Friedman, Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives, Fed hawks and doves. Sure as shootin', you will not find consensus on the US budget deficit or the Federal debt.

The Deficit of Yesteryear

The only time the US ran substantial deficits was in time of war, and to a lesser degree banking crises and natural disaster. The problem would pass, and the debt would be paid off, more or less.

Where the US Gov't Used to Spend Its Money

Up until recent decades, the only substantial expenditures were on bridges, roads, dams, and the like. These are capital expenditures that all future generations would benefit from. What limited spending was the rather finite number of these things that could be built.

Then Came LBJ and the Great Society

The “war on poverty” heralded a dramatic shift of the role of the Federal Government in our lives, and I am not sure that everyone understands this. I certainly did not until I read this rather remarkable article. Now, rather than building infrastructure, whose expenditure is limited, Uncle Sam now gives out free money to the “needy”, whose demands are infinite. AFDC, food stamps, Medicare and Medicaid, welfare, SSI, ad nauseum. The problem is that these things are consumed immediately. Our descendants will not benefit from this type of spending, but they will foot the bill nevertheless.

Federal Debt and Budget Deficit—the Next Generation

The problem is that once people realize that they can vote themselves money from the public treasury, it becomes impossible to do anything about it (I think it was de Tocqueville who said this; if I am wrong, please sound off in the response box below). Therefore, it is hard to see anything other than ever increasing debt and deficits until the end of time.

In any event, you should read the article.

Hong Kong: “umbrella” revolution?

Well, well, well. We have yet another evil Communist party who has told us a big, fat lie. This time, it is Xi Jing Ping regarding Hong Kong.

Hong Kong?

This region I always regarded as British. What I did not know is that, legally, it belongs to Communist China. The UK merely had a 100 year lease. It expired in 1997, and she was obligated to hand it back to the evil Communists. At the time, the Chi-Comms promised all manner of liberty, freedom, and free elections.

“Umbrella”?

Not surprisingly, HK residents bristled at being told a lie. The promised free elections evaporated like dew in the morning sun. Why “umbrella” revolution? Because Hk'ers use umbrellas to protect themselves against the tear gas being used by riot police.

Occupy Central

This is the name of the group of the HK residents who are protesting against the evil Chinese Communists. They are a ragtag group of professionals and students and so forth. They are doing their best to be peaceful in the best Gandhi tradition. Like “Occupy Wall Street”, they aim to shut down the downtown business district in an act of peaceful civil disobedience.

Hong Kong: the Next Generation

I wish I could say that the brouhaha over HK would move the Communists to sanity, but I cannot. The trouble the evil Chinese Communists have had about their military occupation of Tibet and Mongolia has not moved the Standing Committee, and I have no hope that similar problems over Hong Kong will move them either. I fear that Hong Kong will be yet another victim crushed beneath the jackboot of Communism.  

Why the Obama Foreign Policy is in Smithereens

Yes, I know: you are confused, frustrated, and downright bamboozled by the Obama foreign policy. There are any number of reasonable adjectives have been applied thereupon.

Once you figure it out, however, it becomes not only understandable by rather unsettling.

The World According to O

The global foreign policy influence of the US is rather ubiquitous. It is arrogant and destabilizing.

The Solution According to O

If I reduce the temperature of US foreign policy, the world will be safer and more tranquil.

The Result

Not. According to an old Greek saying: nature abhors a vacuum (Aristotle). In the absence of US influence, any number of tin-horn dictators have arisen to fill th void: Xi Jing Ping, Vladimir Putin, IS/ISL/ISIS, Al Qaeda, and Tweety Bird.

O Foreign Policy: the Next Generation

It is difficult to see any future thereof. Sorry 'bout that.

What is Humanity?

The effort to distill the essence of humanity has defeated the best minds and thinkers throughout history. Such an effort is doomed to failure from the start. It exposes one to ignominious defeat and ridicule, which is exactly why I shall try. So, here goes nuthin'.

Why Jesus Christ is Important

Yes, he rewrote the compact (hence “testament”, both old and new) between God and Man. As a non-Christian, this not why he is important to me. However, he said: clothe the naked, feed the poor (Matthew 25). Certainly an important principle, regardless of your religion.

The Human Capacity for Compassion

The ability of humans to love and care for other species never ceases to amaze me. We are all know of cats and dogs and goldfish and rabbits: they become a member of our family. Even those who have physical defects or expensive medical problems usually find homes. Those who live in rural places regularly take in orphan wildlife, care for them, and release them back into the wild (assuming they will go: they often view their human caretakers as mom and dad and refuse to be kicked back into nature). 3 internet videos: a dolphin tangled in fishing line approaches a diver for help, a diver frees a whale shark tangled in fishing net, and a deer caught in a landslide on a road patiently waits while humans free it from the mud.

Love Thy Neighbor

The willingness to help one's family and friends is not surprising. What is surprising is that this generosity also extends to one's neighbors. There is no earthly reason for this, as neighbors are merely random, geographic happenstance.

Human Life is Not to be Squandered

A living soul is the most valuable resource we have. Abortion and the death sentence are 2 human institutions that are most regrettable.

The Holocaust: Never Forget

Yes, Nazism is evil and millions of Jews were murdered in cold blood. I believe, however that most people miss an even more important lesson: that rather ordinary humans can, with a small bit of clever prodding, be provoked into committing terrible atrocities against one another.

Music, Music, Music

There are 2 compositions that deserve to outlive the human race:
*Beethoven Symphony #5, 4^th movement: celebrating joy of the spirit
*The Creation, a Rock Cantata (Bobrowitz & Porter): celebrating the joy of the human voice

Romantic Love

Many species mate for life, but humans are not one of them, which makes lifelong devotion and sacrifice for a spouse all the more remarkable. We have all heard anecdotes of a couple married for decades where one spouse dies, and the other follows within weeks.

Generosity

The human institution of anonymous giving, where the donor has no idea who the recipient is, to a charitable organization is another rather remarkable human behavior.

Chivalry

When I was growing up, I was taught to never hit a girl/woman. I am now middle aged and on the cusp of being an old fogy, and still believe this to be proper behavior. In fact, this might be a good touchstone in evaluating a particular culture.

Old People

There is an old saying: you can judge a culture by examining how it treats the elderly. Thusly so.

Humanity—the Next Generation

What lies in store for the human race? Anyone who claims to have the answer is probably a charlatan. However, reviewing the ethics and morals of current day society, humans do not seem to have advanced much beyond Plato, Socrates, and the Golden Age of Greece.

Was Abraham Lincoln a Great President?

When asked, most Americans would say that Washington (for defeating a superior army of British troops) and Lincoln (for defeating the South in the Civil War) are our greatest presidents.

Beg to differ slightly regarding the latter.

Everyone saw the clouds of war brewing on the horizon. When he decided to take our nation to war, he knew that the ground would run red with the blood of American citizens. He knew that he was pitting father against son, brother against brother, friend against friend, and neighbor against neighbor.

At the last minute, the South offered Lincoln a compromise: within 2 generations, slavery would simply disappear. In samurai terms, this would be considered to be a brilliant victory: accomplishing your goal without shedding a single drop of blood.

This was not the course that Lincoln chose. The result: more Americans died than in all other wars combined, before and since.

Malice Toward None

The reason for expressing this admittedly unpopular opinion is the publication of a fabulous new book by Jack Levin, father of the sometimes incendiary talk show host Mark. The subject is Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address.

It is a brief speech, and here is the last paragraph (the full text is easily available):

With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan--to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.

I now know that Lincoln's heart rang true with what he believed to be good and just.

Do I forgive Lincoln?

Almost.

Why You Should Read the Declaration of Arbroath

Huh? The what? Google, it people. Written in 1320, it was a declaration of independence by the Scottish nobility from the English Crown and submitted to Pope John XXII. This astonishing document was unknown to me until a few days ago. It came to my attention from an article in a Scottish newspaper about the impending election to decide if Scotland should, once and for all, be an independent nation.

The reason I mention this, is because it would seem to be the basis for our own Declaration of Independence.

If you are Scots, please forgive my heretical edits and encourage everyone to take the time to download and read the entire document. The full text is easily available from many websites.

…..............................

Declaration of Arbroath [edited]I

...The Britons they first drove out, the Picts they utterly destroyed, and, even though very often assailed by the Norwegians, the Danes and the English, they took possession of that home with many victories and untold efforts; and, as the historians of old time bear witness, they have held it free of all bondage ever since

...The Most Holy Fathers your predecessors gave careful heed to these things and bestowed many favours and numerous privileges on this same kingdom and people, as being the special charge of the Blessed Peter's brother.

Thus our nation under their protection did indeed live in freedom and peace up to the time when that mighty prince the King of the English, Edward, the father of the one who reigns today, when our kingdom had no head and our people harboured no malice or treachery and were then unused to wars or invasions, came in the guise of a friend and ally to harass them as an enemy.

The deeds of cruelty, massacre, violence, pillage, arson, imprisoning prelates, burning down monasteries, robbing and killing monks and nuns, and yet other outrages without number which he committed against our people, sparing neither age nor sex, religion nor rank, no one could describe nor fully imagine unless he had seen them with his own eyes.

But from these countless evils we have been set free, by the help of Him Who though He afflicts yet heals and restores, by our most tireless Prince, King and Lord, the Lord Robert.

He, that his people and his heritage might be delivered out of the hands of our enemies, met toil and fatigue, hunger and peril, like another Macabaeus or Joshua and bore them cheerfully.

...It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom - for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself.

...May it please you to admonish and exhort the King of the English, who ought to be satisfied with what belongs to him since England used once to be enough for seven kings or more, to leave us Scots in peace, who live in this poor little Scotland, beyond which there is no dwelling-place at all, and covet nothing but our own.

...Then rouse the Christian princes who for false reasons pretend that they cannot go to help of the Holy Land because of wars they have on hand with their neighbours.

...But how cheerfully our Lord the King and we too would go there if the King of the English would leave us in peace, He from Whom nothing is hidden well knows; and we profess and declare it to you as the Vicar of Christ and to all Christendom.

...To conclude, we are and shall ever be, as far as duty calls us, ready to do your will in all things, as obedient sons to you as His Vicar; and to Him as the Supreme King and Judge we commit the maintenance of our cause, casting our cares upon Him and firmly trusting that He will inspire us with courage and bring our enemies to nought.

May the Most High preserve you to his Holy Church in holiness and health and grant you length of days...