...democracy can be interpreted to assert not only equality before the law but also essentialistic identity in all respects. This is expressed in the claim, "All men are created equal," which is something very different from the statement, "All men have equal rights and are equal before the law." Anyone who believes in the genetic uniqueness of every individual thereby believes in the conclusion, "No two individuals are created equal.".
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There's only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the read more
There's only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences.
Let the sun shine in.
Let the sun shine in.
The fact is that up to now a free society has not been good for the intellectual. It has neither read more
The fact is that up to now a free society has not been good for the intellectual. It has neither accorded him a superior status to sustain his confidence nor made it easy for him to acquire an unquestioned sense of social usefulness. For he derives his sense of usefulness mainly from directing, instructing, and planning- from minding other people's business- and is bound to feel superfluous and neglected where people believe themselves competent to manage individual and communal affairs, and are impatient of supervision and regulation. A free society is as much a threat to the intellectual's sense of worth as an automated economy is to the workingman's sense of worth. Any social order that can function with a minimum of leadership will be anathema to the intellectual.
...regrettable as it may seem to the idealist, the experience of history provides little warrant for the belief that real read more
...regrettable as it may seem to the idealist, the experience of history provides little warrant for the belief that real progress, and the freedom that makes progress possible, lies in unification. For where unification has been able to establish unity of ideas it has usually ended in uniformity, paralysing the growth of new ideas. And where the unification has merely brought about an artificial or imposed unity, its irksomeness has led through discord to disruption.Vitality springs from diversity- which makes for real progress so long as there is mutual toleration, based on the recognition that worse may come from an attempt to suppress differences than from acceptance of them. For this reason, the kind of peace that makes progress possible is best assured by the mutual checks created by a balance of forces- alike in the sphere of internal politics and of international relations.
In republican governments, men are all equal; equal they are also is despotic governments: in the former, because they are read more
In republican governments, men are all equal; equal they are also is despotic governments: in the former, because they are everything; in the latter, because they are nothing.
Power (n): The only narcotic regulated by the SEC instead of the FDA.
Power (n): The only narcotic regulated by the SEC instead of the FDA.
Without a country, I am not a man.
Without a country, I am not a man.
I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.
I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.
The Vice-Presidency is sort of like the last cookie on the plate. Everybody insists he won't take it, but somebody read more
The Vice-Presidency is sort of like the last cookie on the plate. Everybody insists he won't take it, but somebody always does.
