Wednesday, August 3, 2011

The New American Dream

Freedom to earn, use, and trade one's property by right was the American dream; which has since been incrementally replaced with extra privileges to the unearned at the expense of man's rights. The principles involved with the old American dream were derived from a familiar principle: right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The new American dream is unfortunately derived from an equally familiar principle: from each according to their ability to each according to their need.
Under the old American dream individuals only have a right to their life, and all the other rights that naturally follow. They do not, however, have the right to the life of others, and cannot therefore, violate the rights of others. The new American dream contradicts this principle because it necessarily violates the rights of others in order to accomplish its aims. Both dreams cannot coexist; it's either/or.
To begin, let's break down the phrase, "right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." The meaning of the word life in the phrase is that individuals have a right to their own life and they are not owned by anyone or anything; their right to life is a given and need not be bought or justified.
The natural consequence of this understanding is that individuals take responsibility to support their own life; in order to accomplish that, however, a right to liberty is necessary. The application and limits of the word "liberty" stems from the meaning of the word "life." If one has the right to their life, that means they are at liberty to do whatever they want with their life. They are free to pursue what they value, and obtaining what one values has the natural consequence of happiness. The phrase, "right to the pursuit of happiness," assumes one owns their life by right and it assumes one is at liberty to pursue, acquire, and keep their values in order to achieve their happiness by right.
The new American dream views property ownership as a privilege -- i.e., by permission vice by right. Property is necessarily acquired by the actions one takes to earn it; therefore, if property is a privilege, then so is liberty. Liberty is the natural consequence of those who own their life; therefore, if liberty is a privilege, then ultimately so is one’s life.
Within the new American dream, society (i.e., our government) "owns" its individuals; it assumes the responsibility of supporting those who cannot or will not support themselves.  In order to accomplish that, society grants special privileges to the needy by sacrificing the rights of those who are able and willing to support themselves. This gross violation of man’s rights and freedoms is of no consequence to those at the receiving end of special privileges -- indeed they demand more of it. (People used to compete to be the most able.  Wait until you see the winners of the competition for the most needy).
A rational thinker might ask, "How will the standards of need be determined?" It used to be on an individual basis. When an individual needed something, he worked for it and didn't force others to fulfill his need; he didn't even have to explain himself. Under this new American dream, however, it's decided by "disinterested" parties in a committee, who have control over the sole monopoly of legalized force -- i.e., the government.
The trick is, however, all parties have an interest. They just deflect and refuse to define their interests by claiming to have no personal self-interest in the matter whatever -- as if that would mean they don't actually have an interest; they do. They just leave it for you to figure out what it is. The truth is a lot uglier than the lie.
Enjoy the nightmare.

No comments:

Post a Comment