Christian Democrats in the United States
Conceptual Issues - U.S. and HistoryWhether we believe that Jesus Christ was God's incarnation or not, we believe in the message of peace and redemption for all people, and of our free wills that no person or country can ever take, even by death. We can all learn to live in a world without fighting.
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Saturday, September 20, 2008
11:47 PM
This is what's wrong with America right now. People running the government think of it as a prize to be won, and think of their power as a means to achieve their self-interest.
While Hamiltonian self-interest is a primary motivator and principle of the freedom of the People at large, this principle has been twisted in the hands of those who win the power of government.
Once someone wins power in the public government by free election (or by derivative appointment), they become obligated by a greater responsibility to promote the self-interest of all Americans, and to ensure the continuation of the public nature of the government. The Founders recognized that many people are weak, not strong, when given power, so they made it hard to take, difficult to wield without majority support, and impossible to keep. That was about the best idea anyone in government had for the previous 500 years.
Early France was arguably the first "sovereign" state in the sense of defined territorial boundaries, regimented government, and citizenship as a formal status that excluded foreigners from rights and eligibility for state positions and benefits. Even then, however, the French kings perceived kingship as an extension of their self-interest. It just happened, that through fate of geography, economics, technological development and foreign relations at the time, that it was in the French king's self-interest to balance the interests of the aristocracy with those of the commoners in the newly developing towns, and thus the basic concept we know as "sovereignty" was born - quite by accident, and alternative organizations continued existing in the rest of the world for a long time.
But America was a new experiment in government altogether. It was the first government in which the rules of its institutions were for the purpose of promoting the self-interest of all citizens, or indeed, of all people in the world.
The current administration, in fact the current culture of politics in general, both in government, in universities, and as conceived by everyday people, tarnishes what America was supposed to be. It's time we all took a step back and look at what we've done to her.
In our mad drive for our own self-interest, we've forgotten that it's in our self-interest, each and every one of us, to stick together and to help each other. If we do that, we'll find ourselves in a really great world with everything we need, and many interesting things to do. If we don't, we'll find ourselves in a drab world of mindless labor, of slavery, and death.
It's your choice.
private vs. public notions of government
To harp on Spruyt's The Sovereign State and Its Competitors, one of the reasons he cites why the Italian city-states and the German feudal states and city-leagues did not form successful sovereign states until very late, is that the people running the governments conceived of government as an extension of their own self interest.This is what's wrong with America right now. People running the government think of it as a prize to be won, and think of their power as a means to achieve their self-interest.
While Hamiltonian self-interest is a primary motivator and principle of the freedom of the People at large, this principle has been twisted in the hands of those who win the power of government.
Once someone wins power in the public government by free election (or by derivative appointment), they become obligated by a greater responsibility to promote the self-interest of all Americans, and to ensure the continuation of the public nature of the government. The Founders recognized that many people are weak, not strong, when given power, so they made it hard to take, difficult to wield without majority support, and impossible to keep. That was about the best idea anyone in government had for the previous 500 years.
Early France was arguably the first "sovereign" state in the sense of defined territorial boundaries, regimented government, and citizenship as a formal status that excluded foreigners from rights and eligibility for state positions and benefits. Even then, however, the French kings perceived kingship as an extension of their self-interest. It just happened, that through fate of geography, economics, technological development and foreign relations at the time, that it was in the French king's self-interest to balance the interests of the aristocracy with those of the commoners in the newly developing towns, and thus the basic concept we know as "sovereignty" was born - quite by accident, and alternative organizations continued existing in the rest of the world for a long time.
But America was a new experiment in government altogether. It was the first government in which the rules of its institutions were for the purpose of promoting the self-interest of all citizens, or indeed, of all people in the world.
The current administration, in fact the current culture of politics in general, both in government, in universities, and as conceived by everyday people, tarnishes what America was supposed to be. It's time we all took a step back and look at what we've done to her.
In our mad drive for our own self-interest, we've forgotten that it's in our self-interest, each and every one of us, to stick together and to help each other. If we do that, we'll find ourselves in a really great world with everything we need, and many interesting things to do. If we don't, we'll find ourselves in a drab world of mindless labor, of slavery, and death.
It's your choice.
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