Liberty in two flavors
The two quotes at the bottom perfectly represent two opposed views of human freedom, something Isaiah Berlin wrote about at length as negative vs. positive liberty.
Negative liberty is the absence of obstacles and constraints that would keep the individual from doing what he wants to do. That is the kind of liberty associated with classical, individualist, free-market liberalism. Councilman Faulconer expresses the core idea of negative liberty when he says the government has no business restricting people's shopping choices. If you ask people what they mean by 'freedom,' almost all will answer with some version of negative liberty.
Positive liberty is providing the social conditions that encourage people to do the right thing, as that is defined by somebody else's idea of what would be best for that other person to do. Thus, taking away a hermit's freedom to smoke in his own home would be an advance in positive liberty. Or, for another example, freedom from unemployment is more important than freedom of job choice. In this view, people are seen primarily as members of collectivities, rather than as individuals; the untidiness of the marketplace is rejected in favor of government-enforced social and economic planning. Councilman Young expresses the core idea of positive liberty with his "vision" of what his community should look like, and his desire to impose it on all the citizens of San Diego for their own good. For him, freedom is not a matter of individual choice but rather of the larger social good, as decided by him. He is confident that individuals will be better off as a consequence. In fact, from this view, too many choices is itself a form of repression; see Marcuse on "Repressive Tolerance".
While classical liberalism tried to maximize negative liberty, the idea of positive liberty unfortunately has become a primary theme of "liberalism" as it exists today. This explains why today's liberals can favor (and succeed in passing at many colleges) something as atrocious as a campus speech code: Even in a university setting, freedom of unimpeded speech is considered less important than positive freedom of from the possibility of having your feelings hurt or your beliefs challenged.
Positive liberty is an Orwellian concept, and it represents the totalitarian mindset in embryonic, do-gooder form. It needs to crawl back onto history's junk pile where it belongs.
Byron
Negative liberty is the absence of obstacles and constraints that would keep the individual from doing what he wants to do. That is the kind of liberty associated with classical, individualist, free-market liberalism. Councilman Faulconer expresses the core idea of negative liberty when he says the government has no business restricting people's shopping choices. If you ask people what they mean by 'freedom,' almost all will answer with some version of negative liberty.
Positive liberty is providing the social conditions that encourage people to do the right thing, as that is defined by somebody else's idea of what would be best for that other person to do. Thus, taking away a hermit's freedom to smoke in his own home would be an advance in positive liberty. Or, for another example, freedom from unemployment is more important than freedom of job choice. In this view, people are seen primarily as members of collectivities, rather than as individuals; the untidiness of the marketplace is rejected in favor of government-enforced social and economic planning. Councilman Young expresses the core idea of positive liberty with his "vision" of what his community should look like, and his desire to impose it on all the citizens of San Diego for their own good. For him, freedom is not a matter of individual choice but rather of the larger social good, as decided by him. He is confident that individuals will be better off as a consequence. In fact, from this view, too many choices is itself a form of repression; see Marcuse on "Repressive Tolerance".
While classical liberalism tried to maximize negative liberty, the idea of positive liberty unfortunately has become a primary theme of "liberalism" as it exists today. This explains why today's liberals can favor (and succeed in passing at many colleges) something as atrocious as a campus speech code: Even in a university setting, freedom of unimpeded speech is considered less important than positive freedom of from the possibility of having your feelings hurt or your beliefs challenged.
Positive liberty is an Orwellian concept, and it represents the totalitarian mindset in embryonic, do-gooder form. It needs to crawl back onto history's junk pile where it belongs.
Byron
San Diego to Ban Wal-Mart Supercenters
By ELLIOT SPAGAT
AP Business Writer
SAN DIEGO (AP) -- The City Council here voted late Tuesday to ban certain giant retail stores, dealing a blow to Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s potential to expand in the nation's eighth-largest city.
The measure, approved on a 5-3 vote, prohibits stores of more than 90,000 square feet that use 10 percent of space to sell groceries and other merchandise that is not subject to sales tax. It takes aim at Wal-Mart Supercenter stores, which average 185,000 square feet and sell groceries.
"Quite simply, I do not think it is the role of the San Diego City Council to dictate where families should buy their groceries," said Councilman Kevin Faulconer, who opposed the ban.
Councilman Tony Young, who joined the 5-3 majority, countered, "I have a vision for San Diego and that vision is about walkable, livable communities, not big, mega-structures that inhibit people's lives."
posted by Byron | Wednesday, November 29, 2006
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home