Tuesday, September 01, 2020

Don't Touch My Freedom!

At the 1964 Republican National Convention, Ronald Reagan claimed there's no Left and Right, only up or down to more or diminished FREEDOM. Aiming at the dream of "the ultimate in individual freedom" he modified: "... consistent with Law & Order." 

The clarification highlights key problems. What if Law permits making soap from enemy fat? Should we be allowed to enslave? Is it OK to steal the property of heathen savages? The more fortunate can perhaps squeeze the disadvantaged till their pips squeak, but is this wise? Law & Order are moving targets. Communities that sacrifice women, cripples, the incautious, etc. are built on shifting sands. 

Serial cheater Lance Armstrong and scumbag Harvey Weinstein each survived by intimidation. America's NOT built solely on bluster. Freedom includes reassessment: questioning what's not (yet) illegal; exposing the NOT OK. 

Mythic imagery may get tarnished?  Let's drain the swamp.