Posted by
KWG on Thursday, May 15, 2008 1:06:52 PM
Overt or not, the underlying philosophy of contemporary politics is a fierce battle between John Stuart Mill and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Mill, while perhaps best known for his development of utilitarianism as an ethical system, was politically a classical liberal, a fierce defender of liberty. His seminal work On Liberty is a must-read for those interested in intellectual history.
Rousseau, on the other hand, formulated the idea of a "general will," and thought that a nation should be governed according to these principles. This has proven disastrous throughout history, as individuals have fancied themselves to be the supreme arbiters of the "general will" (Hitler, Mussolini, for example).
Our nation's founding wasn't based on Mill (Mill was a mid-19th c. writer, coming well after the U.S.' beginning). Indeed, individual liberty wasn't as fierce of a strain in Revolutionary America. They desired collective liberties as laid out in the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights are all based around the phrase "Congress shall make no law..." This clearly was a way for states to keep their own autonomy from the central authority rather than preserving individuals' liberty. Indeed, in spite of the first amendment, many states had their own official religions.
We've evolved, however. Individual rights have become more and more important to our national character and our livelihoods. Indeed, our respect for individuality and responsibility are what set us apart from the trending-socialist Old Europe. Alexis de Tocqueville, touring America in the 1820s, saw our unique national character and wrote (in his absolute must-read Democracy in America) that he had high hopes for our relatively new republic.
"It must not be forgotten that it is especially dangerous to enslave men in the minor details of life. For my own part, I should be inclined to think freedom less necessary in great things than in little ones, if it were possible to be secure of the one without possessing the other...
It does not drive men to resistance, but it crosses them at every turn, till they are led to surrender the exercise of their own will. Thus their spirit is gradually broken and their character enervated."
De Tocqueville clearly saw the direction our nation was headed in. He saw, even in our early days, our fierce love of liberty, and recognized that our nation would endure through struggle. He saw that our large liberties were by and large secured in the nature of our government and the nature of our people. He knew that the danger laid in the day-to-day meddling in minor affairs that our government is capable of.