jasongpeirce
Member
- Joined
- Mar 3, 2015
- Messages
- 45
[h=1]Back in the U.S.S.R. with Pope Francis and Dr. Sachs[/h]
“Let me tell you now
Everybody’s talking about
Revolution, evolution, masturbation,
Flagellation, regulation, integrations,
Meditations, United Nations,
Congratulations.”
—John Lennon, “Give Peace a Chance”
September 17, 2015—While writing about Pope Francis in a recent article, I couldn’t shake John Lennon’s iconic “Give Peace a Chance” from my head. The lyrics though, looped a little bit differently: “All we are saying, is give freedom a chance.” Of course, freedom is a prerequisite for peace, and also prosperity. So yes, give freedom a chance. You’ll most likely get peace and prosperity thrown in.
In the article “Why is Pope Francis Channeling Nimrod?” I addressed the Pope’s ignorance on economics and political economy, which he’s displayed repeatedly in his calls for more government intervention to address the ills of the world (for context, please read the article here). Apparently Pope Francis cynically believes freedom is the cause of the world’s ills, and more government is the remedy. Sources for the article included many of the Pope’s public statements, and an article entitled “A Call to Virtue” by the Pope’s advisor Dr. Jeffrey Sachs. In the course of outlining what Pope Francis will say when he visits the U.S. next week, Sachs presented a perversely distorted perspective of libertarianism and the founding principles of the United States. Here, I will directly address Sachs (and the Pope again by extension). It’s hard to believe Sachs and the Pope actually believe this stuff. But whatever the case, we’ll take them at face value.
Here’s Sachs, and by extension Pope Francis, from “A Call to Virtue”:
“In current political discourse in the United States, the unalienable rights of the individual have been transmuted into the modern doctrine of libertarianism. This doctrine not only puts individual rights on a pedestal above all others but also actively denies any claim by society to hold individuals to account for their behavior toward others, other than to respect their liberty. In today’s America, the very idea of virtue has been privatized, individualized and increasingly commercialized. Each individual is at liberty to define virtue as he or she sees fit.”
Sachs and Pope Francis clearly do not understand libertarianism, or the U.S. as founded. Indeed, “the modern doctrine of libertarianism” does intersect the philosophical underpinnings of the U.S., including “the unalienable rights of the individual.” But more than that, it’s not so much that libertarianism “puts individual rights on a pedestal above all others,” it’s that libertarians recognize (like the founders) that when “individual rights” (i.e., individual and private property rights) are not protected against violence and aggression — especially violence and aggression from government – tyranny ensues and civil society falls apart. The growing problems we see in the U.S. are because we long ago began abandoning these founding, libertarian principles. As the federal government has grown, the unalienable rights of the individual have shrunk. The bigger the government, the smaller the individual, and the less freedom, peace, and prosperity...
Read the rest here: http://www.voicesofliberty.com/article/back-u-s-s-r-pope-francis-dr-sachs/
“Let me tell you now
Everybody’s talking about
Revolution, evolution, masturbation,
Flagellation, regulation, integrations,
Meditations, United Nations,
Congratulations.”
—John Lennon, “Give Peace a Chance”
September 17, 2015—While writing about Pope Francis in a recent article, I couldn’t shake John Lennon’s iconic “Give Peace a Chance” from my head. The lyrics though, looped a little bit differently: “All we are saying, is give freedom a chance.” Of course, freedom is a prerequisite for peace, and also prosperity. So yes, give freedom a chance. You’ll most likely get peace and prosperity thrown in.
In the article “Why is Pope Francis Channeling Nimrod?” I addressed the Pope’s ignorance on economics and political economy, which he’s displayed repeatedly in his calls for more government intervention to address the ills of the world (for context, please read the article here). Apparently Pope Francis cynically believes freedom is the cause of the world’s ills, and more government is the remedy. Sources for the article included many of the Pope’s public statements, and an article entitled “A Call to Virtue” by the Pope’s advisor Dr. Jeffrey Sachs. In the course of outlining what Pope Francis will say when he visits the U.S. next week, Sachs presented a perversely distorted perspective of libertarianism and the founding principles of the United States. Here, I will directly address Sachs (and the Pope again by extension). It’s hard to believe Sachs and the Pope actually believe this stuff. But whatever the case, we’ll take them at face value.
Here’s Sachs, and by extension Pope Francis, from “A Call to Virtue”:
“In current political discourse in the United States, the unalienable rights of the individual have been transmuted into the modern doctrine of libertarianism. This doctrine not only puts individual rights on a pedestal above all others but also actively denies any claim by society to hold individuals to account for their behavior toward others, other than to respect their liberty. In today’s America, the very idea of virtue has been privatized, individualized and increasingly commercialized. Each individual is at liberty to define virtue as he or she sees fit.”
Sachs and Pope Francis clearly do not understand libertarianism, or the U.S. as founded. Indeed, “the modern doctrine of libertarianism” does intersect the philosophical underpinnings of the U.S., including “the unalienable rights of the individual.” But more than that, it’s not so much that libertarianism “puts individual rights on a pedestal above all others,” it’s that libertarians recognize (like the founders) that when “individual rights” (i.e., individual and private property rights) are not protected against violence and aggression — especially violence and aggression from government – tyranny ensues and civil society falls apart. The growing problems we see in the U.S. are because we long ago began abandoning these founding, libertarian principles. As the federal government has grown, the unalienable rights of the individual have shrunk. The bigger the government, the smaller the individual, and the less freedom, peace, and prosperity...
Read the rest here: http://www.voicesofliberty.com/article/back-u-s-s-r-pope-francis-dr-sachs/
