The other left

By lex

Posted on April 17, 2006

No – not the angry one. That left, with its childish temper tantrums, potty-language-as-a-substitute-for-rational-debate and moaning, self-indulgent navel gazing has gotten quite a bit more attention than they really deserve, and a period of reflective silence from them would be very much appreciated.

I’m talking about the classical “liberals,” the way the word used to be defined: The post-enlightenment political ideology of those who wanted to extend and protect the liberties and rights (both personal and property) of individuals against tyrannies of all sorts, whether those tyrants be national fascist regimes, or antagonistic aggregations of aggrieved interest groups demanding obeisance to their own definitions of moral propriety. People who understood that because democratic majorities could also be tyrannies, that the principal role of a properly drawn constitution was to protect individuals from the potential depredations of the state:

Credo

"Sign on, young man, and sail with me. The stature of our homeland is no more than the measure of ourselves. Our job is to keep her free. Our will is to keep the torch of freedom burning for all. To this solemn purpose we call on the young, the brave, the strong, and the free. Heed my call, Come to the sea. Come Sail with me."

— John Paul Jones

"Pardon him, Theodotus; he is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature"

— George Bernard Shaw, Caesar and Cleopatra

"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music."

— Friedrich Nietzsche

"A kind Providence has placed in our breasts a hatred of the unjust and cruel, in order that we may preserve ourselves from cruelty and injustice. They who bear cruelty, are accomplices in it. The pretended gentleness which excludes that charitable rancour, produces an indifference which is half an approbation. They never will love where they ought to love, who do not hate where they ought to hate."

— Edmund Burke

"Μολὼν λαβέ"

— Leonidas

"Blogito Ergo Sum"

— Neptunus Lex