It is my view that "self-government" is rooted in two moral qualities, the first being the ability to govern oneself, the desire and willingness to govern oneself, and the second being respect for neighbor which is in part how "love thy neighbor" plays itself out in the practical world.
Freedom requires a moral center of gravity in a society or the society ceases to be free, in fact in the absence of a generalized moral sense freedom becomes an unbearable burden and people will gladly shed it, they will demand that their betters relieve them of it.
Loving obedience to God, and love of neighbor are the twin roots of both rule of law and constitutional liberty. When they atrophy freedom shrivels and dies.
Beautifully said, marron. As ever.
The stunning irony in all this, to me, is that this nation tore itself apart over the compelling moral issue of freeing the slaves. And yet today, it seems so many people are frantic to stand in line, for the purpose of becoming re-enrolled as slaves, this time of the Big Massah in Washington....
I am mindful that before the federal government decided to "help" the "poor and underprivileged" people, by means of LBJ's Great Society programme, black families were overwhelmingly intact families, with a father present. "Underprivileged people" may have been "poor" in economic terms, but they were "rich" in personal dignity. Many if not most saw education and personal initiative as the trusted ways to improve one's personal condition, and to "step up" in society. Associate Justice Clarence Thomas exemplifies this tradition.
So what happened, at great taxpayer expense? Just look around you. It seems to me that any kind of "gummint help" is like pouring a caustic agent onto society with a view of "dissolving" it....
Nicely Done!!!
That one is "worth hanging on the wall"!!