If you don't read John Venlet, "Improved Clinch" in the blog roll, you should. His post about a fishing trip led me to several other sites and eventually to this:
G. A. Cohen. Behold this cite from the latter's "Why Not Socialism?" (2009) --
"Although inequalities [of the sort just mentioned] are not condemned by justice, they are nevertheless repugnant to socialists when they obtain on a sufficiently large scale, because they contradict community: community is put under strain when large inequalities obtain … We cannot enjoy full community, you and I, if you make, and keep, ten times as much money as I do, because my life will then labor under challenges that you will never face, challenges that you could help me to cope with but do not, because you keep your money."(pp. 34–35)
It seems to me that G.A. Cohen didn't know what community is about. Community is NOT "equality" or "fairness".
Community is about relationships. And if you can't have a relationship with someone because they make more money than you, that makes you a shallow fool.
To believe that the defining characteristics of humanity lie in our income or reserves of wealth is completely ludicrous. A poor artist can lead a rich life, and a rich person can buy fine art. Leading a good life isn't about leading a pleasant life, it is about leaving behind lasting relationships.
The most influential people in my life have inspired me by their moral character and intellectual prowess, not by the numbers in their bank accounts.
If I were to say that I couldn't have "community" with a mentally handicapped person because I am "ten times smarter" it would stink of obvious elitism and arrogance. Intelligence is only one facet of relationships. Humans cannot be compressed into single dimensional characters.
About Me
- AM
- Raised by conservative Christian parents, enlisted in the Army at 18, used the GI Bill to finish college, and I'm back in the Army. Along the way I've encountered a huge cast of characters, some I got into trouble with, some that passed on skills that have helped me on my life journey.
Assorted Associates and Scalawags
- 3 Boxes of BS
- ammo.net
- Arctic Patriot
- Bayou Renaissance Man
- Blackfork
- Blue's Blog
- Brigid's Blog, Mausers and Muffins
- Carteach0
- Cato, The American
- DoubleTapper
- FreeThinker
- Guffaw in AZ
- Gun Rights 4 Us All
- Gunslinger
- Improved Clinch
- Irons in the Fire
- Joe Huffman
- Just Stop
- Knuckle Draggin'
- Lawdog
- Liberty Optics
- LucrativePain
- Lurking Rhythmically
- m4040
- Mad Ogre's Blog
- MFRC
- Mountain Guerilla
- Mulligan
- MyDailyKona
- Near the Salty City
- Neo-neocon
- NinePoundSledge
- Photography is Not a Crime
- Random Nuclear Strikes
- RobertaX
- SFMedic
- Sniper's Paradise
- Talk Radio Blogger
- The clue meter
- The Lizard Farmer
- The Silicon Graybeard
- Total Survivalist Libertarian Rantfest
- View From the Porch
- Walls of the City
- Zercool
1 comment:
I had an office with a door and big oak desk and everything once, not a cube. Best paying job I ever had. Full benefits. It was empty, soulless, and hateful. I had been a mechanical tinkerer and machinist and such before I took that job, outside of my dabbles in music. When I quit that job and went back to self-employed tradesman who has to buy his own health insurance, it was one of the happiest days in my life. I'll admit to a lot of interesting firearms toys but they came from slow and deliberate trading and restoration, not from a fat paycheck. It's a more tenuous existence but the essence of freedom is insecurity. And nothing feels better than being free.
You make your beds, you lie in them, your decisions have consequences that can be very lasting, and the world is real. Socialism doesn't allow ANY freedom past what you do with your recreational time, to a limited degree. Being able to choose between 200 channels of digital tv isn't freedom. Living and dying on your own merits and the merits of your works is freedom.
Post a Comment