aubreyturner.org

February 23, 2003

Liberal?

Steven Den Beste gives us his thoughts on real liberalism and the decidely anti-liberal positions of the "Liberals." He closes with this:

Berkeley Liberals advocate strong use of governmental powers in many other interventionist ways, always with the best of intentions, but with little concern for my fundamental right to be left alone. And that is why they are not liberal, because the fundamental liberal position is that government should not needlessly meddle in the lives of citizens.

Thus the paradoxical result: I am a "Conservative" because I am a liberal. Berkeley Liberals are "Liberal" because they are not liberal. They believe in government intervention, including censorship and direct punishment of dissent, so as to enforce orthodox thought and behavior. That's not liberalism, that's tyranny.
One of the things I've found so disturbing about so much of what is entailed in the whole "Politically Correct" doctrine is that is seems diametrically opposed to diversity of thought while disingenously claiming to hold up the ideal of free speech. By squashing dissent (I've always wanted to use that phrase :) ), they manage to drive their opponents underground. Only in a robust marketplace of ideas will we be able to determine how a person truly thinks about a topic. I'd rather know that my neighbour is a Klan member ahead of time (instead of finding out when he and his friends are at my door in robes with a cross).

I disagree with almost everything the left and the "Liberals" stand for (and with much of the right as well). I will fight to the death for their right to say what they believe, but I will also fight to the death over any attempts to implement their ideas.

Posted by Aubrey at February 23, 2003 03:14 PM
Comments

It's time to quit using the term "liberal" without a modifier. Or to drop the modifier in certain audiences where it makes a difference.
You could be a Jeffersonian liberal, and fifteen minutes from now you could be a Goldwater conservative.

Am trying to remember the source of the quote---mebbe Dinesh D'Souza---how campus speech police and their ilk believe in "every kind of diversity except the kind of diversity that matters: diversity of thought."

Posted by: Fuze at February 25, 2003 12:17 AM
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