[exodus]

"I have a theory on self-government and a love for a version of liberty conceptualized by the Welsh-Irish-Scottish as opposed to the French libertarians and their ideological libertarianism."
*********************

I'm fasinated, JohnGalt.

How does the Welsh-Irish-Scottish version of libertarianism differ from our libertarian Founders' version, which was based upon God-given Rights?

[JohnGalt]

I would say it's very much in line with the Founder's view, and the Anti-Federalist view point. Jefferson, the writer of the DoI, borrowed mostly from French liberals and thus the language must be understood in that context.

Jefferson was later tempted by the supposed 'ideals' of the bloody French Revolution; how could that possibly have been?

[JohnGalt]

A few more thoughts:


Jefferson mostly appealed to abstractions, rather than the cultural experience of the Welsh-Irish-Scottish. In context, one must recall that at the beginning of the 18th Century, England (or anglo-saxons if it pleases to stay on ethnic lines) unleashed strict arms control on the Irish and Scottish that within a few years, led to cultural destruction and passive genocide.

The culture of the day was very keen to the British means of dealing with 'unruly' opposition, and thus in Concord and Lexington the troops began to drill and train for a future conflict a full year before the Brits came for the guns on 4/19/1775. The culture did not much care for the prose of French intellectuals; they cared about staying alive in the very pragmatic sense.