Wednesday, April 06, 2011
Down with "Franklin"
I'm ferociously tired of hearing Brand-R commentators "quoting" Ben Franklin:
"Those Who Sacrifice Liberty For Security Deserve Neither."
When they use this proverb they act like it's part of the Constitution. Most of the time they are either (1) trying to defend an invasion of some goddamn country where some goddamn primitive stone-age savages allegedly hunger for Liberty; or (2) trying to defend government bailouts of trillionaires who deserve the Liberty to steal ever more trillions, while we lowly non-trillionaires do not deserve the Security of thrift and stable currencies.
According to Wikipedia, the quote was never said by Franklin at all; it was only the title of a booklet printed by Franklin. (As a publisher, Ben printed all sorts of things.) The nearest real Franklin quote is "Sell not virtue to purchase wealth, nor Liberty to purchase power", which clearly advises against both (1) and (2) listed above.
Franklin or not, the general point of the first quote is still destructive.
Real human beings do not want liberty.
Real human beings want normalcy, which translates somewhat differently in different cultures.
First, we want our rulers to provide safety, to protect us from criminals and invaders. Second, we want our rulers to maintain an economic system that includes decent and useful work and a sufficient supply of necessities. Third (and it's a distant third) we want the freedom to behave 'normally' (as defined within our culture) without having to fight lawsuits by some Village Atheist asshole who thinks his deviance ought to be imposed on normal people.
In short, the only Freedom we want is Freedom from all the things that modern left-wingers and right-wingers call Freedom. ¶ 5:35 AM
"Those Who Sacrifice Liberty For Security Deserve Neither."
When they use this proverb they act like it's part of the Constitution. Most of the time they are either (1) trying to defend an invasion of some goddamn country where some goddamn primitive stone-age savages allegedly hunger for Liberty; or (2) trying to defend government bailouts of trillionaires who deserve the Liberty to steal ever more trillions, while we lowly non-trillionaires do not deserve the Security of thrift and stable currencies.
According to Wikipedia, the quote was never said by Franklin at all; it was only the title of a booklet printed by Franklin. (As a publisher, Ben printed all sorts of things.) The nearest real Franklin quote is "Sell not virtue to purchase wealth, nor Liberty to purchase power", which clearly advises against both (1) and (2) listed above.
Franklin or not, the general point of the first quote is still destructive.
Real human beings do not want liberty.
Real human beings want normalcy, which translates somewhat differently in different cultures.
First, we want our rulers to provide safety, to protect us from criminals and invaders. Second, we want our rulers to maintain an economic system that includes decent and useful work and a sufficient supply of necessities. Third (and it's a distant third) we want the freedom to behave 'normally' (as defined within our culture) without having to fight lawsuits by some Village Atheist asshole who thinks his deviance ought to be imposed on normal people.
In short, the only Freedom we want is Freedom from all the things that modern left-wingers and right-wingers call Freedom. ¶ 5:35 AM
