RE: Libertarian Socialism
September 13, 2014 at 9:37 am
(This post was last modified: September 13, 2014 at 9:38 am by tjakey.)
I like the idea of "personal ownership". For a while now I have felt that any successful society would entail two basic premises, 1) no one can coerce another in any way for any reason, and 2) no one should profit off the labor of another. (Similar and maybe the same idea as Personal Ownership.)
When it comes to liberty though, I take a different tack than the libertarians. I think history has shown that liberty only exists in a complex, modern society that is deeply committed to universal human rights. Liberty is not an individual thing, it is a corporate thing that is shared in a society where everyone demands that freedoms are protected for all. I think personal liberty is the most valuable, and the most difficult, goal of humanity and simply can't be accomplished individually. Truly liberated people have access to health care, quality education, a non-polluted environment, and enjoy job (or income anyway) security. They are not at risk of corporate whims and malfeasance, not subject to religious dogma driving political decisions, and do not routinely fear for their safety at the hands of either outlaws, the police force, or religious fundamentalists.
Liberty cannot thrive in a self-centered, greed driven, crony-capitalist, violence loving, war-mongering nation where the "rugged individual" (as much a myth as any god) is worshiped along with corporate profits. It cannot thrive while "government" is derided as "the problem" by the very people who what to be elected to run the country. Liberty cannot exist in a theocracy.
Which is why liberty is being lost in America, with little hope of recovery. We have simply abandoned all of the pathways that lead to it.
When it comes to liberty though, I take a different tack than the libertarians. I think history has shown that liberty only exists in a complex, modern society that is deeply committed to universal human rights. Liberty is not an individual thing, it is a corporate thing that is shared in a society where everyone demands that freedoms are protected for all. I think personal liberty is the most valuable, and the most difficult, goal of humanity and simply can't be accomplished individually. Truly liberated people have access to health care, quality education, a non-polluted environment, and enjoy job (or income anyway) security. They are not at risk of corporate whims and malfeasance, not subject to religious dogma driving political decisions, and do not routinely fear for their safety at the hands of either outlaws, the police force, or religious fundamentalists.
Liberty cannot thrive in a self-centered, greed driven, crony-capitalist, violence loving, war-mongering nation where the "rugged individual" (as much a myth as any god) is worshiped along with corporate profits. It cannot thrive while "government" is derided as "the problem" by the very people who what to be elected to run the country. Liberty cannot exist in a theocracy.
Which is why liberty is being lost in America, with little hope of recovery. We have simply abandoned all of the pathways that lead to it.
