What was the enlightenment? Wiki has this to say:
The Age of Enlightenment (or simply the Enlightenment or Age of Reason) was a cultural movement of intellectuals beginning in the late 17th- and 18th-century Europe emphasizing reason and individualism rather than tradition.Reason and individualism...
Below is Chris Hedges who argues that individualism is a danger, that in the face of the big government failures that ghost liberalism, socialism is the answer.
Consider that... according to Chris Hedges the solution to big government failure is big government (a rejection of reason), not the individual (a rejection of individualism).
How much can one person reject the enlightenment? And if one rejects the enlightenment do they not embrace that which preceded it .... darkness?
NitWitCharmer
I think that individualism is an illusion since we are all interconnected. I do believe that big government is detrimental to societal growth because they 'rule' with their egos and not their hearts. Furthermore, I think there are pros and cons to any government entity. We can all learn from each other and if we could all just agree on anything, then the world's problems would be remedied immediately.
ReplyDeleteIndividualism has far less to do with existing in a solitary state than it does with retaining the essence of personal free choice amidst others within society.
ReplyDeleteThat essence of personal choice is what the Bill of Rights was written to protect. That essence of personal choice is what our constitutional representative republic was intended to reflect.
Unfortunately the more arrogant of us prefer society to be a reflection of government. Or said more precisely, progressive liberals prefer to remake society in their image.
And how does that respect the individual? It does not.
As to 'all of us just agreeing', western society has explored that and it has failed every time it has been tried simply due to the effort required to force conformity on all. Convincing people to act against their self interest requires an alternative that is still worse than acquiescence ... usually a disrespectful bullet to the head. That is not the world I want for my children.
The lesson of Western history is that division is healthy simply because it reflects our various concerns and that in itself is an expression of respect for others.