"Over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign."
-John Stuart Mill
Sprawling 19th century British rhetoric, sentences lasting up to an entire page, erudite political ideals painstakingly covering dozens of political subjects--- these are just a few of the reasons that most readers would not include John Stuart Mill's essay On Liberty (1859) with their collection of summer beach books. I wonder if anyone at Amazon.com raised an eyebrow when I ordered the book delivered to my Kindle. I wonder if they have my picture up on a "Wall of People With Odd Tastes in Books...."
Yet in the midst of what has transpired in the United States over the past weeks--- a credit downgrading from S&P, a near-default thanks to a fabricated crisis with all too real stakes, a prequel to Planet of the Apes starring James Franco, the end of the NFL lockout, and the upcoming recall elections in the state of Wisconsin--- John Stuart Mill emerges from his dusty grave in Avignon, France to present America with what Stephen Colbert would surely term a "wag of the finger."
It would perhaps be too easy to use Mill's On Liberty as a legitimization of the efforts of the far right in the past weeks. His idea that a government should only exist for the purposes of self defense (a far more practical idea than the libertarian ramblings of Frederick Bastiait in "The Law"...), coupled with his persistent warnings regarding the "tyranny of the majority" would surely lead Glen Beck to weep tears of agreement (though this has most likely already happened).
Yet in this convoluted nation that we live in, it was the vocal minority that pushed our nation to the brink of default and greater economic catastrophe. It was the right-wing congressional counter culture, defined by an ironic combination of limited government spending yet excessive government intervention in all matters of social affairs from gay marriage to pornography (just ask the signers of this pledge), that stood in the way of compromise, progress, and solutions. With the emergence of the Tea Party in America, we no longer need to fear the tyranny of the majority as those on the Right surely did before the 2010 midterm elections. Instead, we have reached the point where the tyranny of the minority is far more dangerous, far more potent, and far more devastating.
John Stuart Mill accepted the necessity and the inevitability of a two-party system in most political environments. What he did not envision was that a splinter section of one of those parties would be willing to drag a government far from the possibility of compromise, but would instead fight to force an entire nation to acquiesce to silly and ridiculous ultimatums issued by our country's most senseless congressional districts.
The stunts pulled by the Tea Party in this recent parade of incompetence demonstrate how desperately this country needs a rebirth of a Republican party that is truly fiscally conservative, yet is willing to step aside from enforcing arcane moral views. Subsequently, the stubbornness of the Democrats and of President Obama in negotiations with the Republicans suggest that the left is just as out of touch with reality as the right.
John Stuart Mill called for a government that enabled its citizens to freely grow and pursue happiness free from the impediments of an overgrown, meddling government. Today, we have reached the point that the biggest threat to the development and the liberty of the individual is not the size, scope, or financial outlook of any particular level of government- on the contrary, it is the dysfunctionalitability (made up word ftw) of all levels of government that hinders our individual potentials. By placing the economic stability of individuals across the United States as a bargaining chip during the debate over the debt ceiling, both parties showed that our liberty as Americans is not threatened by bureaucracies, agencies, social spending, or a military industrial complex. Instead, our liberty is threatened by the ineptitude of a two party system, held captive by the tyranny of the minority on the far right and the stubbornness of the leadership on the left.
We need to get back to a situation in which tyranny of the majority is a viable concern. We need to return to a country that can look at limiting its scope and size as a means of promoting individual liberty. But to do that, the ineptitude of our existing two parties must be overcome.
Thus, the relevance of John Stuart Mill's On Liberty is not that it poses solutions to our current fiasco of a federal government- but that it shows us the important issues that we have fallen so far away from. If only our society could once again grapple with the problems laid out in On Liberty...
Agree to disagree with Ryan Panzer?
Comment below, or belittle me on a quality social media site like Google+
No comments:
Post a Comment