I was going to say...communitarianism sounds so good in theory. In practice there has to be an arbiter higher than the group or else discord rules in short order. A monastery is a communitarian group that works because the organizing principles are founded on shared religious beliefs, with God as the ultimate arbiter. But secular communitarian groups invariably end up being personality cults.
In our society that arbiter would be the rule of law. But make no mistake about it. Even as Mussolini and Hitler rose to absolute power under the forms of law... so may administrative absolutism and theocratic fascism be fastened upon this country within the Constitution and within the forms of law.
A revolution has already occurred within our form of law but many are blind to it.
A government that had been supported by the people and so controlled by the people has become one that supports and regulates the people in nearly every aspect of life, and so controls them.
Much of the usurpation is irreversible. That is true because habits of dependence are much easier to form than to break. Once the government, on ground of public policy, has assumed the responsibility to provide people with buying power when they are in want of it, or when they are unable to provide themselves with enough of it, according to a minimum proclaimed by government, it will never be the same again.
Communitarianism in this country exists as a reality, not just a theory.
Then we see the reality:
"-- To reflect on your own libertarian versus communitarian leanings, consider what restraints on liberty you support:
luggage scanning at airports,
smoking bans in public places,
speed limits on highways?
sobriety checkpoints?
drug testing of pilots and rail engineers?
prohibitions on leaf burning?
restrictions on TV cigarette ads?
regulations on stereo or muffler noise?
pollution controls?
requiring seat belts and motorcycle helmets?
disclosure of sexual contacts for HIV carriers?
outlawing child pornography?
banning AK-47s and other non-hunting weapons of destruction?
required school uniforms?
wire taps on suspected terrorists?
fingerprinting checks to protect welfare, unemployment,
and Social Security funds from fraud?
All such restraints on individual rights, most opposed by libertarians of one sort or another, aim to enhance the public good. --"
In practice there has to be an arbiter higher than the group or else discord rules in short order.
Yep, in the USA, our Constitution serves that purpose.
A monastery is a communitarian group that works because the organizing principles are founded on shared religious beliefs, with God as the ultimate arbiter. But secular communitarian groups invariably end up being personality cults.
Agreed.. Thanks for your comments.
Re 'higher arbiter'; see Godel's Incompleteness Theorem or expanded upon for the layman, 'GEB: The Eternal Golden Braid' by Douglas R. Hofstadter.