-Caveat Lector- ------- Forwarded Message Follows ------- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Claremont Institute Precepts: Congressman Looks to Founding for Answers Date sent: Mon, 7 Jun 1999 12:41:16 -0700 The Claremont Institute--PRECEPTS | | June 7, 1999 Visit <http://www.claremont.org> | | No. 171 House Majority Leader Dick Armey--a rare congressional leader who is part of the solution--sent a letter to his colleagues just recently. In it, he reflected on the Columbine High School murders, and on the perception of many that America faces a moral crisis. In doing so, he found the opportunity to quote both me, from a previous edition of Precepts, and Institute Senior Fellow Tom West�s book, _Vindicating the Founders_. Rep. Armey noted what he called a paradox in comparing the America of the founding era with America today: America at the founding was more libertarian in economic terms, but less libertarian in terms of morality. This is indeed paradoxical, but only from a certain contemporary point of view. It is paradoxical only if one confuses liberty with an individual's right to do as he pleases. In the classical liberal view of the Founders, much of modern libertarianism is flawed by its failure to distinguish liberty from license. For the Founders, true liberty necessarily includes sufficient self-control of one's passions to make correct moral choices. A people lacking this self-control--for instance, a people prone to sexual promiscuity, laziness and class envy--would be incapable of economic and personal independence and unfit for democratic citizenship. As James Madison wrote in Federalist 55, "nothing less than the chains of despotism [could] restrain [such a people] from destroying and devouring one another." Given this understanding, it was perfectly logical that government dedicated to upholding its citizens' liberty would promote the morality of self-control by such means as prohibiting abortion and pornography, making divorce difficult and unpleasant, and restricting public welfare to the truly needy. It is not the classical liberalism of the Founders, but the libertarian idea that a society of morally unrestrained individuals can maintain their freedom, that is contradictory. Today's practical alternative to the Founders' classical liberalism is not libertarianism, but the modern liberalism that animates the Clinton administration. This modern liberalism rejects the idea of "legislating morality" in the sense of promoting self-control. But to be consistent, it also rejects the Founders' idea that the purpose of government is to uphold its citizens' liberty. To the contrary, modern liberalism underlies the vast regulatory bureaucracy that began in the late 1960s, and that continues to extend its reach into American workplaces, schools and homes. Consider the Clinton administration's response to the Columbine killings: more gun control on the one hand, and a bureaucratic process to regulate the marketing of violent video games and other forms of entertainment to children on the other. Regarding the first, as I have written previously, Americans have always had a lot of guns around, but until recently our children were not shooting each other. The problem is not guns, but dysfunctional families and the growth of moral relativism as America's public philosophy. As for the second, the time is long overdue for curbs on pornography and other forms of "entertainment" that degrade our humanity, and that undermine our children's ability to distinguish their classmates from insects. But these curbs should be debated and enacted by our elected representatives in Congress, not by unaccountable bureaucrats as the president proposes. In the end, both the classical liberalism of the Founders and the modern liberalism of the Clinton administration-- one by reviving and acting on the distinction between liberty and license, the other by expanding bureaucracy and restricting the Second Amendment and other constitutional guarantees--hold out the promise of ending the current rash of school shootings. But the first way is consonant with liberty, and the second with despotism. That is our choice. I invite you to read Congressman Armey's letter at the Claremont Institute�s website, http://www.claremont.org/publications/armey1.cfm Sincerely, Larry P. Arnn President, The Claremont Institute ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright (c) 1999 The Claremont Institute To subscribe to Precepts, go to: http://www.claremont.org/subscrib.cfm , or e-mail us at [EMAIL PROTECTED] . To be removed from this list, go to : http://www.claremont.org/remove_public.cfm , or e-mail us at [EMAIL PROTECTED] . For general correspondence or additional information about the Claremont Institute, e-mail : [EMAIL PROTECTED] , or visit our website at : http://www.claremont.org . Changing your e-mail address? Please let us know at : [EMAIL PROTECTED] . For press inquiries, contact Nazalee Topalian at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or (909) 621-6825. The mission of the Claremont Institute for the Study of Statesmanship and Political Philosophy is to restore the principles of the American Founding to their rightful, preeminent authority in our national life. The Claremont Institute | 250 West First Street | Suite 330 | Claremont, CA 91711 | Phone (909) 621-6825 | Fax (909) 626-8724 A<>E<>R ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + A merely fallen enemy may rise again, but the reconciled one is truly vanquished. -Johann Christoph Schiller, German Writer (1759-1805) + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + It is preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that prevents us from living freely and nobly. -Bertrand Russell + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + "Everyone has the right...to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." Universal Declaration of Human Rights + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Forwarded as information only; no endorsement to be presumed + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
