A progressive friend of mine posted this on his Facebook today:
This is insanity. Mr. Friedman can't get what he wants in the political arena, so he starts longing for an autocracy of the "enlightened"? No. We should never sacrifice our freedom for expediency. A country populated by free people, even unseated from its seat as the reigning world superpower, is superior in every way to a country populated by prisoners of an autocratic state. This op-ed piece stinks of elitism with a seeping undertone of fascism.
Accompanied by this article. I'm no fan of Friedman, but I am a fan of consistency. The problem for me is that it is precisely freedom that lends itself to expediency. The problem is that progressives talk about freedom but don't really want it. Freedom to fail, freedom to make bad decisions...freedom is not something we can pick and choose from. Either we have it or we don't.
My friend also criticizes the "autocracy of the enlightened". Isn't that what progressives want? "You're too stupid to understand this mortgage." "You are a victim of predatory lending because you don't have an education in finance." "You couldn't possibly understand this health care insurance rider." "You don't have the foresight to plan for your retirement." "You don't have time to compare prices on your utilities." "Let government do all this for you."
Do you want freedom or not???
This is insanity. Mr. Friedman can't get what he wants in the political arena, so he starts longing for an autocracy of the "enlightened"? No. We should never sacrifice our freedom for expediency. A country populated by free people, even unseated from its seat as the reigning world superpower, is superior in every way to a country populated by prisoners of an autocratic state. This op-ed piece stinks of elitism with a seeping undertone of fascism.
Accompanied by this article. I'm no fan of Friedman, but I am a fan of consistency. The problem for me is that it is precisely freedom that lends itself to expediency. The problem is that progressives talk about freedom but don't really want it. Freedom to fail, freedom to make bad decisions...freedom is not something we can pick and choose from. Either we have it or we don't.
My friend also criticizes the "autocracy of the enlightened". Isn't that what progressives want? "You're too stupid to understand this mortgage." "You are a victim of predatory lending because you don't have an education in finance." "You couldn't possibly understand this health care insurance rider." "You don't have the foresight to plan for your retirement." "You don't have time to compare prices on your utilities." "Let government do all this for you."
Do you want freedom or not???
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