July 23, 2008
Hold The Mayo - Media Alert
From time to time I have mentioned my friend Wayne from New Hampshire. He's the one is at far end of the Libertarian spectrum. I always enjoy talking politics with him because we have significant philosophical agreements and some striking differences.
I would have to say that one of the largest areas of difference comes in the realm where threats to liberty arise. I think Wayne is more apt to believe that these threats arise from deliberate action toward the deliberate goal of reducing the freedom of individuals. I tend to take a less sinister view of my fellow man, though perhaps more cynical, that most damage to liberty arises from unintended consequences and stupidity.
Wayne in some ways is more of an idealist - setting his sights on a perfect libertarian society. I tend more toward making what we have better and trying to keep it from getting worse.
I learned recently that Wayne is on the radio. He is part of a broadcast called Free Talk Live. It's heard on 40 stations across the country as well as in Trinidad & Tobago. Their live camera is broadcast on 4 cable affiliates and all of this is available via the web site. Or you can subscribe to their podcast.
I have never actually heard the show so I'm not going make any recommendation. I only learned about it's existence recently when Wayne told me that he read one of my posts on the air. I wrote it on May 15 and he read it shortly after, so it's a little old. It's a response to a campaign email from Hillary Clinton.
I'll be checking the show out live tonight - Wayne is going to be on. If it's good I'll do some digging through the archives. If your interested, here's the clip of Wayne reading Hold The Mayo on the air.
Wayne reads Steve.
I would have to say that one of the largest areas of difference comes in the realm where threats to liberty arise. I think Wayne is more apt to believe that these threats arise from deliberate action toward the deliberate goal of reducing the freedom of individuals. I tend to take a less sinister view of my fellow man, though perhaps more cynical, that most damage to liberty arises from unintended consequences and stupidity.
Wayne in some ways is more of an idealist - setting his sights on a perfect libertarian society. I tend more toward making what we have better and trying to keep it from getting worse.
I learned recently that Wayne is on the radio. He is part of a broadcast called Free Talk Live. It's heard on 40 stations across the country as well as in Trinidad & Tobago. Their live camera is broadcast on 4 cable affiliates and all of this is available via the web site. Or you can subscribe to their podcast.
I have never actually heard the show so I'm not going make any recommendation. I only learned about it's existence recently when Wayne told me that he read one of my posts on the air. I wrote it on May 15 and he read it shortly after, so it's a little old. It's a response to a campaign email from Hillary Clinton.
I'll be checking the show out live tonight - Wayne is going to be on. If it's good I'll do some digging through the archives. If your interested, here's the clip of Wayne reading Hold The Mayo on the air.
Wayne reads Steve.
Posted by: Stephen Macklin at 05:21 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
1
"I would have to say that one of the largest areas of difference comes in the realm where threats to liberty arise. I think Wayne is more apt to believe that these threats arise from deliberate action toward the deliberate goal of reducing the freedom of individuals. I tend to take a less sinister view of my fellow man, though perhaps more cynical, that most damage to liberty arises from unintended consequences and stupidity."
Actually, I believe both. Throughout history, there have always been prince and princess types who seek to rule over overs, with or without consent. They rise to positions of power and attempt to convince an uninformed, dumbed down populace that they should be afraid and/or ashamed of something and should therefore be protected for their own good. Sound familiar?
Posted by: Wayne at July 23, 2008 08:44 PM (OGc7g)
2
Wayne,
I cannot deny that there are evil people with evil intentions. I don't see them under ever rock.
For instance, I don't see the Patriot Act as a deliberate assault on liberty. I see it as a measure taken by people who thought they were doing the right thing for the right reasons.
While I agree with the cause of enhancing security, I would have preferred they did not make a trade off of liberty to achieve that end. But I have never thought for a moment that it was a deliberate conspiracy to take away liberty. It was not the goal, but a side effect.
I cannot deny that there are evil people with evil intentions. I don't see them under ever rock.
For instance, I don't see the Patriot Act as a deliberate assault on liberty. I see it as a measure taken by people who thought they were doing the right thing for the right reasons.
While I agree with the cause of enhancing security, I would have preferred they did not make a trade off of liberty to achieve that end. But I have never thought for a moment that it was a deliberate conspiracy to take away liberty. It was not the goal, but a side effect.
Posted by: Stephen Macklin at July 23, 2008 10:28 PM (R7LgM)
3
Steve,
I really don't believe that people are inherently evil, in fact I think that most people are good at heart. The problem that many of us have is with the idea and practice of concentrated power. It often makes a few bad people worse and marginally good people bad. Do we want Obama or McCain or Hillary to have the power that the present administration has cleverly usurped from us?
It gets so tiring to watch my Republican and Democrat friends delude themselves into thinking that when "their people" get into power, everything will be peachy. It just doesn't work that way. Power corrupts, so the only way to avoid the pitfalls of power is to decentralize it as much as possible. This was essentially the founders vision for this country. Tragically, we've let it slip away. We're letting power become much too concentrated in the name of security. Many of us are now coming out and expressing our preference for liberty over security. Personally I believe that we can preserve both, but it is really up to individuals, not the collective to accomplish this.
Posted by: Wayne at July 25, 2008 05:55 PM (GtH65)
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