From the Libertarian Party of California: www.ca.lp.org
by L. K. Samuels
There
was a time when liberalism was the undisputed philosophical
underpinning of Western civilization. Consider the first liberal: John
Locke's ideals freed the world from kings and tyrants and their
arrogant self-righteousness that assumed the citizenry was put on earth
just for them to command. The forces of liberalism changed the
authoritarian paradigm and led people to believe that consensus was
more important than accidents of births.
But by the 20th
century, liberalism had changed. Today, the advocates of modern
liberalism no longer embrace liberty and tolerance, but a new type of
ruler: a "benevolent" government determined to make people equal by
whatever means possible. Government is again the means by which to
control society, but this time for "noble" causes.
Except for
the "classical liberals" who still adhere to the traditions of Locke
and Thomas Jefferson, most modern liberals embrace the redistribution
of wealth, larger government agencies, and a bureaucratic society
dependent on the largesse of the political system. They have legislated
womb-to-tomb economic policies reminiscent of 1930s and '40s national
socialism in Europe, most notably embodied in the Vichy regime in
France, hence my term "Vichy liberalism."
Vichy liberals have
somehow failed to realize that the larger the ruling authority, the
greater the temptation for abuse. In addition, as that abuse enlarges,
so does an arrogant self-righteous attitude toward citizens, as if
ordinary people were put on the earth merely to provide the political
elite with money and employment.
Illinois Governor Rod
Blagojevich's refusal to resign after being caught allegedly trying to
sell Barak Obama's vacant U.S. Senate seat to the highest bidder
illustrates this feeling of entitlement. Saying he had done nothing
wrong, the liberal Democrat also allegedly tried to fire some critical
editors from the Chicago Tribune and to solicit a bribe from a hospital.
A
less publicized case of arrogant disregard for people occurred in
Carmel Valley, Calif. during the 2008 fires. Ivan Eberle, a well-known
wildlife photographer, was commended for heroism in saving the Monterey
Institute for Research Astronomy observation station on Chews Ridge
from a raging wildfire. A few days after the fire, six Monterey County
Sheriff deputies visited Eberle and charged him with the crimes of
battering a firefighter and interfering with a firefighting crew in the
line of duty.
Calling the charges "ironic" and "truly bizarre,"
Eberle said he felt that his "constitutional rights were violated to an
egregious degree." To him, the charges filed by the fire department
were in retaliation for his public criticism, as he had spread the word
that the firefighters refused to help him save the observatory, which
is also his home. To Eberle, the firefighters were acting with "willful
negligence or dereliction of duty."
Eberle believes the bogus
charges stem from his quick actions to save the observatory. When a
large tongue of flames raced toward propane tanks next to a grove of
pines, he unrolled a fire hose from the facility's hydrant and bumped
into a sleep-deprived firefighter. Although the observatory is the only
structure on Chews Ridge, Eberle single-handedly saved it. Nobody from
the fire department would help. Similar to the theme of Fahrenheit 451, the firefighters seemed to have forgotten their primary purpose.
So
how could such arrogant misconduct occur? Some have pointed to the
consolidation of local volunteer fire departments into more formal,
government-operated stations.
In 2001, the Valley Volunteers
Inc. in Carmel Valley Village merged with a government fire department
in the Mid-Valley area. The merger quickly turned sour. In 2004, the
volunteer fire department circulated a petition for "detachment,"
arguing that their privately-raised million-dollar fund had been
squandered and that the two groups had different philosophies on how to
operate a fire department. Although explicitly told that a detachment
could easily be arranged if either side found the merger
unsatisfactory, the LAFCO government agency in charge of such disputes
refused to allow the separation. Many of the citizen firefighter quit
the department, saying that they were being "treated as subordinates"
by the new consolidated fire department.
The most dangerous
threat from Vichy liberals is that they do not trust ordinary people to
do the right thing. Instead, government control and bureaucracy are
substituted to run society. Politics and officiality overshadow
anything that citizens attempt to do, preventing society from
self-organizing into a system to which people are willing to dedicate
valuable time and money.
Unfortunately, as consolidation grows,
so does an attitude that only government can solve problems, leaving
the citizenry defenseless and dependant. Obviously, government has
gotten too big for it britches, and its arrogance is showing through.
© Copyright 2008 by Libertarian Party of California
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