Posted by
KWG on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 11:26:35 AM
Over the weekend I had a sojourn to Philadelphia to play a show with my rock band. I'd been there before, but never really as a tourist, so I decided I wanted to sample the local fare.
I'm still unclear as to why the liberty bell is so famous. As I understand it, it was the bell rung to assemble people in Philadelphia, and perhaps to assemble the continental Congress. I did learn, though, that it was NOT rung to announce the Declaration of Independence (though that would have been super cool).
Don't get me wrong, though; the liberty bell is awesome. Despite its historical significance perhaps going over my head, its aura and symbolism got me thinking. I have lefty friends who do not believe in liberty and freedom as goods in and of themselves. I posed this thought experiment to a friend: if you could have two systems with identical outcomes, but in one choice and freedom of will were constrained yet the other was driven by autonomy, which would you choose? He said his worldview would have no way of distinguishing between the two.
Despite the best work of economists, freedom and liberty have been unquantifiable. But who's not to say that they're absolute goods? The great philosophers, after all, have been founded upon the idea of man as autonomous being (excepting that tradgedy that is Rousseau, of course.
Anyway, after viewing the Liberty Bell, I made my way to Geno's Steaks, purportedly the originator of the Philly Cheesesteak. Boy, is that place somewhere that would give a progressive a heart attack (and I'm not talking about the food). Geno's was investigated by the Philadelphia human rights commission in 2005 for displaying a sign in the window: "This is America. When ordering, speak English." My bandmates asserted that this was racist (ugh). They also have a prominent memorial for Daniel Faulkner, an officer who was shot while on duty by Mumia Abu-Jamal. If you don't know about this case, Mumia was a black panther in the 1980s that lefty groups have rallied around because of what they believe to be an unfair trial.
My Philly experience was good, America-loving, and cheesesteak-loving. Good job, Philly.