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FFQF: Samuel Adams (and Dan Webster) on Liberty
Friday, September 26, 2008
FFQF: Samuel Adams (and Dan Webster) on Liberty
Posted by Hercules Mulligan at 12:00 AM
Labels: Daniel Webster, Founding Father's Quote Friday, liberty, Samuel Adams, virtue
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4 Comments:
Some people think that liberty means the freedom to do whatever they want until they get into trouble, and then ask someone else to save them from the consequences. However, I would say that liberty requires personal responsibility. That is part of its "price."
Amen to that, Dave! It's my point here precisely. Liberty cannot last without responsibility. Freedom does not work because it allows people to do whatever they want, but it works on the condition that people exercise virtue (which includes the responsibility of an individual for his own actions) and self-restraint. All societies and bodies of men need the same amount of governing. However, the difference between an autocracy and a free government is the factor of WHO does the governing!
Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts! Happy FFQF!
"Please notice, that the phrases "free health care," "free education," "free retirement," and not even "security" are there."
You forgot "free lunch." :)
Do you think that the coming days will help people realize that the government is not their daddy, waiting to solve all their problems? I'm afraid that when they do, when they realize no one else is going to step in to save them and they alone are responsible for themselves, we will see looting and rampaging, as people decide to "take" what they need. Scary proposition.
"Liberty is not lost through the oppressive actions of government, but rather through the consent of the governed."
Wow, that's quotable itself, Herky! And it reminds me (again) of that little book "The Politics of Obedience: The Discourse of Voluntary Servitude" by Etienne de la Boetie, intro by Murray Rothbard. It examines the nature of people to voluntarily submit to tyrants.
Perhaps this happens because God created us to be sheep to the Great Shepherd, and when we reject the Great Shepherd, our nature demands we follow something around the field? That's my latest hypothesis, anyhow, but I haven't had time yet to test it out.
Great thought-provoking post, Herky. Thanks.
Great post.
It is human nature for man to desire relief from responsibility and accountability. This is why Washingtom said that religion and lorality would be the republic's greatest support; religion and morality confirm that man IS responsibly and must be accountable, for he will one day give account. This reverence toward God is the foundation of a life lived in virtue and it's outgrowth, liberty.
How terribly far we are from this noble precept.
Keep saying so, Mulligan. Adams also said that what's needed to spur change is a tireless, irate minority.
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