An article Linky!

[forsyth]

"At the heart of the conservative misunderstanding of liberty is the presumption that government and individual freedom are fundamentally at odds. At the heart of any liberal counteroffensive must be a subtler but more truthful proposition: Public power can advance freedom as well as thwart it. In the real world, which so many conservatives steadfastly refuse to face, there is no such thing as freedom in the abstract. There are only specific freedoms, which differ in their conditions and consequences. FDR famously enumerated four such freedoms, dividing them into two pairs: freedom of speech and worship; freedom from want and fear. The first pair had long been recognized and enshrined in the Constitution. The second were a new formulation, and Roosevelt made them concrete when he signed Social Security into law, justifying it as a way of promoting freedom from want: “We have tried to frame a law which will give some measure of protection to the average citizen and to his family. . . against poverty-ridden old age.” Three years later, he declared that Social Security payments will “furnish that minimum necessity to keep a foothold; and that is the kind of protection Americans want.”" - The Washington Monthly

I need to write up my post about false dichotomies, the most abused these days being "Security versus Freedom". Freedom and Security aren't at odds. I'm gonna have to do it later. But this touches on it and expounds several things I think I'm gonna have to integrate. But the famous song line "Freedom's just a word for nothin left to lose" is utterly, utterly wrong.

Tags: Politics, Quotes, Links