savingelephants

[savingelephants]

Socialism does not inspire men to become generous, it incites them to hate other men for their alleged greed and selfishness. These two things are not the same. 

[savingelephants]

“Nobody is equal to anybody. Even the same man is not equal to himself on different days.”

— Thomas Sowell (1931-) American economist.

[savingelephants]

The job of the state in a free society is not to protect the people from harm. This may seem to be an odd claim to some but it is an accurate one. The job of the state in a free society is to protect the people from violations of their individual autonomy. If a man illegally breaks into your home when you are not present, the police will arrest him whether he was about to wax your floors or steal your valuables. The presence or absence of  a kind or malicious intent is not the point. The issue is the violation of your individual sovereignty. On the other hand, there are forms of so called  harm (from malicious words for example) that do not involve a violation of individual autonomy and they are not the business of the state. Whenever the law of a society begins to drift toward the prevention of harm rather than the prevention of violation and intrusion, it is drifting away from liberty and into moral dictation. The proposed laws of Affirmative Consent when it comes to rape is another example. The point is to prevent harm or displeasure (the harm of a person being emotionally pressured into doing something they will regret) rather than to preserve their individual autonomy or control, which in this case can be exercised with the  simple word “no”. All laws of this type are moral dictation, and they serve to infantilize us. It is not that their moral conclusions are necessarily invalid, it is that these moral ideals must be adopted freely within the context of human character development.

[savingelephants]

Synchronized action is not community, community is common understanding. Law can synchronize action but it cannot create community.

The American community existed before its Constitution, and it  created that very Constitution. Those who turn to government to create community do not understand the purpose of government or the nature of community. And the second of these is far more disturbing than the first.

[savingelephants]

It should always be remembered that strictly speaking, “communism” is not against the rules of a Free Enterprise society. If the people wish to lay down their property and hold all things in common they may live that way. What is outlawed in a Free Enterprise society is the attempt to COMPEL people to conform to such a scheme and lifestyle.

[savingelephants]

I asked and @philosophicalconservatism responded: for anyone interested in the value of Hegelian philosophy on conservative thought.

It appears most conservatives accept Russell Kirk's view of conservatism built on Burke's philosophy of prescription. However, I recently encountered British philosopher Roger Scruton who appears to look to Hegel who he says shows "How self-consciousness and freedom emerge through the venture out from the self towards the other." (I can provide the full quote if needed) I'd thought Hegel was more a hero to Marxists than conservatives. Does he offer something of value for the conservative?

The average reader that is not a student of academic Philosophy will probably only know about Hegel due to Karl Marx’s appropriation of some of his ideas. Hegel’s thought however is very abstract and it has been used in all sorts of ways politically, including to argue for certain types of Conservatism.  As far as I know, Scruton himself is influenced primarily by the philosopher  Immanuel Kant. The concept of  either Natural Law or Natural Rights lies at the center of Conservative thought. The only consistent philosophical ground for them is  either  theism or a Kantian like philosophy. Scruton  opts for the latter. I suppose that in what you read, Scruton  was slightly off his normal route and was pondering the usefulness of Hegel’s philosophy for a Conservative doctrine of natural rights.

Now mainstream modern Conservatism began with Edmund Burke, and Political Philosophy 101 teaches everyone that  Burke, was the mortal enemy of the idea of Natural Rights. He thought that rights evolved out of the practical wisdom of a society ’s habits and traditions, and that rights could not be imposed from the top down by law. They must arise as natural tendencies of the people. But Burke also described all of this in his writings as part of a “divine order”  which means that he could not believe that rights are merely a random, practical discovery; they must be foreknown and foreordained. Technically, Burke HAD to believe in Natural Rights. What he truly objected to was a certain political use of the doctrine of Natural Rights in his own era that justified radical action. He believed that our rights, however foreordained they might be, were something that a society had to continually grow into. Modern  Conservatism must be a doctrine that  simultaneously affirms rights that are eternal  and abstract, but at the same time reject radical political activity based on abstract theory.

Conservatism is the gradual emergence of an abstract truth (that of Natural Rights) within a practical historical context. Since Hegalianism is a doctrine of history evolving in a predetermined manner (according to principle),   you can see why at least a few Conservative thinkers might be inclined to invoke Hegel. As far as I’m concerned personally, it isnt a great fit for various reasons.

[savingelephants]

Tweeted

Taking a brief hiatus from Twitter through the end of the year to focus on some personal goals. Merry Christmas everyone!

— Saving Elephants (@savingelefants) December 16, 2017

[savingelephants]

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My conclusion to the piece on how conservatives and authoritarians differ:https://t.co/I9PeFnxZXH http://pic.twitter.com/wHSe12uomN

— Saving Elephants (@savingelefants) December 15, 2017

[savingelephants]

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Yesterday I had a successful meeting with our largest client. Still waiting for word from the President on how it's somehow all about him. https://t.co/FbjQ9HRYK4

— Saving Elephants (@savingelefants) December 13, 2017

[savingelephants]

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The call to cut gov waste/abuse is ubiquitous. But how? There's the rub. What constitutes waste is debatable & often indicative of systemic or cultural problems challenging to overcome, & abuse is very difficult/expensive to find and prosecute. What's truly needed is limited gov

— Saving Elephants (@savingelefants) December 13, 2017

[savingelephants]

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“What is a common situation from an economic standpoint can be redefined politically as a ‘problem’—namely that most people want something that costs more than they feel like paying for it.” Thomas Sowell

— Saving Elephants (@savingelefants) December 10, 2017

[savingelephants]

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The irony of this moment: The conservative movement is in moral and intellectual collapse, just when many of the principles that movement sought to defend (if imperfectly)--personal probity, rule of law, limited government, American global leadership--are most in need of defense.

— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) December 9, 2017

[savingelephants]

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My latest in a series of @The_Mil_Review articles exploring the difference between conservatism and other worldviews: https://t.co/0GnPKSWV7J http://pic.twitter.com/FBLLAEgQMV

— Saving Elephants (@savingelefants) December 8, 2017

[savingelephants]

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While Democrats have prefered the politics of obstruction, the fact remains: nothing about this tax reform process was ever intended to be bi-partisan. https://t.co/pPo1aAUQXn

— Saving Elephants (@savingelefants) December 5, 2017

[savingelephants]

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Political tribalism leds to abject misery. We cannot find a sense of belonging in something as arbitrary as the ever-changing views of the collective Right or Left

— Saving Elephants (@savingelefants) December 5, 2017

[savingelephants]

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touché https://t.co/f5ZMmO1RBh

— Saving Elephants (@savingelefants) December 4, 2017

[savingelephants]

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http://pic.twitter.com/ziB98y2IZm

— Thomas Sowell (@ThomasSowell) December 3, 2017