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Freedom is overrated

cottonzway

I was saying boo-urns
http://www.businessandmedia.org/articles/2010/2010010 4125636.aspx

John McLaughlin: Freedom is 'Most Overrated' Political Concept

Long-time 'The McLaughlin Group' moderator claims people wanted the so-called nanny state due to 'economic uncertainty.'

By Jeff Poor
Business & Media Institute
1/4/2010 1:02:05 PM

How out-of-touch is the D.C. pundit class with the rest country? Look to John McLaughlin for the answer.

During part two of “The McLaughlin Group 2009 Year-End Awards,” McLaughlin, who has hosted the program since 1982, declared the concept of freedom, at least from a political standpoint in the United States, is overrated.

“The most overrated is freedom,” McLaughlin said. “When faced with economic uncertainty, people don’t want freedom. When they can’t see their economic future, they want the nanny state.”

McLaughlin’s troubling view doesn’t necessarily square with polling data and other anecdotal indicators. Even back at the height of economic uncertainty, only 30 percent of Americans supported the TARP bailout to save the financial system, according to a September 2008 Associated Press poll.

And since then, the entire bailout culture introduced by former President George W. Bush and continued under the presidency of Barack Obama has faced the backlash of the tea party movement, inspired by CNBC’s Rick Santelli voicing his opposition to a housing bailout.

Other members of “The McLaughlin Group” pointed to other “most overrated” factors that affect the economy. For MSNBC political analyst Pat Buchanan, it was global warming overrated. Newsweek’s Eleanor Clift, providing the left-of-center voice on the panel, said Florida Gov. Charlie Crist was overrated. Conservative talker Monica Crowley called the so-called “boy genius” Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner the most overrated. But U.S. News & World Report editor-in-chief Mort Zuckerman took a shot at the leaders in the business community.

“The leaders of most of our major financial institutions in this country,” Zuckerman said of the “Most Overrated.”
 
I'm pretty sure he was being ironic/sarcastic/insulting

His point was meant to be a biting attack on how soft and weak Americans have become and how dependent on the nanny-state mentality people are. Perhaps it would have been more clear if he had phrased it: "America has shown by their recent actions that they don't REALLY want freedom and the responsibility that comes with it - its just a slogan from the past"

I watched that episode on TV and got the definite impression that was that he was being derisive of the "socialistic proletariat stew"
 
They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.
-Franklin

Seems to me that US citizenry valued and currently values more and more government intervention. There is progressively more infringement upon the Bill of Rights, there is evidence that the largest corporations have more say in legislation than the voice of the People and very few of the commonweal (or the politicians) seem to step up and take notice, let alone say something contrary.

Just my thoughts on the matter, as I see the "nanny state" slowly coming into play.
 
Modern versions of freedom require that someone else faraway suffers so. This is because political freedom has become synonomous with economic freedom. If you are free you can improve your lot, which is the basis of the American dream. Free capital, freedom to make as much money as possible if you find yourself in the right circumstances and have the drive to do so.

But the freedom is propped up by the poor of the world, and is based on finite resources. It is a system which assumes infinite growth in a finite world, an ideology which, while encouraging great innovation on one side, also encourages greed and corruption and a 'get one over on someone' mentality. Marx was right about the capitalist system - it's doomed to fail and is highly unstable.

If that's the freedom that's over-rated, then yes, it sure is.

The other type of freedom is the human rights kind, a less tangible, more theorethical one. That's the good kind of freedom;)
 
Modern versions of freedom require that someone else faraway suffers so. This is because political freedom has become synonomous with economic freedom. If you are free you can improve your lot, which is the basis of the American dream. Free capital, freedom to make as much money as possible if you find yourself in the right circumstances and have the drive to do so.

But the freedom is propped up by the poor of the world, and is based on finite resources. It is a system which assumes infinite growth in a finite world, an ideology which, while encouraging great innovation on one side, also encourages greed and corruption and a 'get one over on someone' mentality. Marx was right about the capitalist system - it's doomed to fail and is highly unstable.

If that's the freedom that's over-rated, then yes, it sure is.

The other type of freedom is the human rights kind, a less tangible, more theorethical one. That's the good kind of freedom;)


I can't stand these kinds of arguments against capitalism.
I urge anyone who believes this kind of thing to take a hard look at the absolute opposite end of the spectrum, read Murray Rothbard's For a New Liberty and the Ethics of Liberty.
If you can disagree with me afterwards well then so be it...
 
I can't stand these kinds of arguments against capitalism.
I urge anyone who believes this kind of thing to take a hard look at the absolute opposite end of the spectrum, read Murray Rothbard's For a New Liberty and the Ethics of Liberty.
If you can disagree with me afterwards well then so be it...

I don't have a problem with capitalism per se, but I do have a problem with some of the more egregious aspects of it. I do get concerned when corporations wield way more power politically than the average citizen and when greed and bonuses become more important than running any business in a fiscally,ethically and environmentally responsible manner. I think this country has moved away from the idea of sustainable growth at our own peril.

As to freedom, I think that is tricky concept. How free are you if you have to stay in a rotten job to keep your health insurance because you have a medical condition that would prevent you from obtaining health care at another job because it would be considered a pre-existing condition?
How free are you if you only have a GED and will be working service industry jobs the rest of your life? How free are you with this culture of commercialism that encourages everyone to go into debt in order to have the latest gadgets and a bigger house than you may need?
 
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