How Toll Of 'Social Justice' Eludes Elites

IBD Editorials ^ | October 5, 2009 | WALTER E. WILLIAMS

[Kaslin]

In recent praise of Cuba's health care system, Rep. Diane Watson, D-Calif., said: "You can think whatever you want to about Fidel Castro, but he was one of the brightest leaders I have ever met."

W.E.B. DuBois, writing in the National Guardian (1953) said: "Joseph Stalin was a great man; few other men of the 20th century approach his stature. ... But also — and this was the highest proof of his greatness — he knew the common man, felt his problems, followed his fate."

Walter Duranty called Stalin "the greatest living statesman .. . a quiet, unobtrusive man." George Bernard Shaw expressed admiration for Mussolini, Hitler and Stalin. John Kenneth Galbraith visited Mao's China and praised Mao and the Chinese economic system.

Learn From China?

Gunther Stein of the Christian Science Monitor admired Mao Zedong and declared ecstatically that "the men and women pioneers of Yenan are truly new humans in spirit, thought and action," and that Yenan constituted "a brand new well-integrated society, that has never been seen before anywhere."

Michel Oksenberg, President Carter's China expert, complained that "America (is) doomed to decay until radical, even revolutionary, change fundamentally alters the institutions and values," and urged us to "borrow ideas and solutions" from China.

[Kaslin]

[Chickensoup]

Thomas Sowell says it best in his book Cosmic Justice.

[eclecticEel]

The article name was intriguing, but the article itself left me flat. Too short, too straightforward, nothing that I didn’t already know.

[Kaslin]

You are the first one who complains about Walter E. Williams Did you even read the entire article or just the excerpt?

[Da Coyote]

“In recent praise of Cuba’s health care system, Rep. Diane Watson, D-Calif., said: “You can think whatever you want to about Fidel Castro, but he was one of the brightest leaders I have ever met.”

Considering the caliper of her fellow congresscritters, bimbo Watson is probably telling the truth. To her, an intelligent chimp is a far superior being.

[dominic flandry]

I read the entire article and I agree with eclecticEel.

[pieceofthepuzzle]

“”You can think whatever you want to about Fidel Castro, but he was one of the brightest leaders I have ever met.””

I can understand why a member of the current U.S. Congress would say this..

[doc11355]

Keep in mind that the article wasn't written with above-average Freepers in mind.
Rather, a concise summary of how centralized power can be deadly is educational for others not as well informed.

[nomad]

And until someone properly documents all the social dysfunction the so called social justice causes, it`s opponents will be vulnerable to “the haters” arguments of it`s proponents.

[Always A Marine]

Good article by Walter Williams, Kaslin. Perhaps such eminent thinkers as eclecticEel and dominic flandry forget that the purpose of this column is to sow doubt about Statism into the minds of busy IBD readers. A concise and hard-hitting history lesson serves just that purpose, despite the fact that eclecticEel learned nothing new from article. Brevity is the soul of wit; Williams made his points in a tidy manner, and wisely left the seeds to grow.

The column was brief and to the point -- but it wasn't that brief. Perhaps eE dismissed Professor Williams before he noticed there was a second page...

[neocon1984]

Some things bear repeating. Because of the Legacy Media, many of these tidbits get dropped down the memory hole.

For example, the Washington Post would rather write 50 articles on George Allen saying “macaca” than 2 articles on the hundreds of millions murdered by communism.

[lentulusgracchus]

For example, the Washington Post would rather write 50 articles on George Allen saying “macaca” than 2 articles on the hundreds of millions murdered by communism.

Ann Coulter wrote a book about this -- Treason. She is straightforward about her conclusion, which is that there is no drive for justice, no high standard of fairness at issue in these squabbles and squibs. The writers simply hate the people of the United States and their homely virtues, which unsuit them to being ruled over by their self-appointed "betters".

The history of liberalism is the history of a 100-year-long beatdown of the freest, fairest, most luminous people since the glorious Greeks by a squalid bunch of prima donnas.

[maica]

The article is just another gentle reminder that the term “social justice” is code for “redistribution of wealth” and centralized power by ‘our betters’. People who promote the democrat platform of “helping the poor” use the concept of social justice as a cudgel, to intimidate those who believe in individual liberty and responsibility.

We must continually be on guard to resist and defeat these power plays that will ruin our country.