The Conservative Mind: Tocqueville Part I (Excerpt of chapter "Macaulay, Cooper, and Tocqueville")

The Conservative Mind: From Burke to Eliot | 1953 | Russell Kirk

[William McKinley]

Part II of this chapter tomorrow.

The Conservative Mind: Cooper (An Excerpt from the chapter "Macaulay, Cooper, and Tocqueville")

The Conservative Mind: John Adams and Liberty Under The Law (An Excerpt)

The Conservative Mind: Burke & The Politics of Prescription (An Excerpt)

[William McKinley]

Your phrasing of "the toxic of liberty" is somewhat confusing to me, although by context I am pretty confident I agree with you for the most part. That said, I am not convinced that education is the sole elixer. I think it is part of the equation, but that education needs to be augmented with a moral foundation distinct from schooling; that "spiritual" education, if you will, is just as important to opportunity as is knowledge, in my estimation.

[sam_paine]

Neither levelling of wealth or levelling of opportunity were possible at the birth of this nation, because the vastness of the undiscovered continent, its resources and oppty dwarfed the invading European population.

As the population saturates the country's resources, we end up with a crowded, repressive mess again.

Not until private exploration in a new frontier gets us far enough apart to allow liberty to flourish again will we see the next leaps forward in civilization.

IOW, we're just about done, here, I think!

[cornelis]

The two big volumes of Democracy are a mine of aphorisms

Sometimes he reminds me of Polonius.

[cornelis]

The analysis of democratic despotism is his supreme achievement as a political theorist, a sociologist, a liberal, and a conservative.

Did he recognize its antidote? That would have royalized him.

[William McKinley]

Is liberty compatible with cities?

[cornelis]

The deepest intellectual weakiness of democracy is its lack of taste or gift for the theoretical life. All our Nobel prizes and the like do nothing to gainsay Tocqueville's appraisal in this regard. The issue is not whether we possess intelligence but whether we are adept at reflection fo the broadest and deepest kind. We need constant reminders of our deficiency, now more than in the past. --Allan Bloom The Closing of the American Mind. How Higher Education has Failed Democracy and Impoverished the Souls of Today's Students

And how true it is. The first initial reaction to any serious consideration of theoretical analysis is an adolescent confidence against making a fuss where there is no need for one. This is usually followed by a corny joke and thumbing one's nose at the pressure that seriousness brings. But hey! This is America. Chill out.

[ellery]

Interesting question. I don't pretend to know the answer...but I will say from my personal experience that in some ways I feel more free living in my mid-sized city than I did growing up in a very small town. The relative lack of interest my neighbors take in my (benign) activities is tremendously refreshing. That said, there are also more laws here in urban-ville (e.g., emissions inspections, zoning, building permits)...so I guess it's a trade-off.

[William McKinley]

Exactly, which was what I was grasping for just before.

[ellery]

Who was it that said "those who do not read enjoy no more advantage than those who cannot read" (paraphrase)? Was it Mark Twain?

[cornelis]

That's a nice portrait of Tocqueville. Who painted it?

[cornelis]

I don't know, ellery. Literacy helps, but more importantly, it matters whether excellence is before the eyes.

[Merovingian]

tyranny of mediocrity, a standardization of mind and spirit

AMEN..is that you, Ron?

[sam_paine]

Is liberty compatible with cities?

Only to the extent that governance remains localized. As long as the Federal government forces a sea-to-sea monoculture, liberty is under assault in the cities or the country.

Maybe Cities should evolve into city-states in a Republic as their localized population exceeds the rest of the state?

Why should the preponderance of New York City wag the senators representing upstate?

The thinking was that the House would effectively represent the population...but since states are no longer viably able to secede, then representation of the States on their historical boundaries seems arbitrary.

[Bigun]

Haven't seen you in a coon's age (Long Time) my friend! How have you been?

WHERE have you been? LOL!

[cornelis]

Hey there, big guy. I've been keeping an eye on your Texas platform threads!

[William McKinley]

I don't know, actually. I just grabbed it off of Google.

[Bigun]

I've been keeping an eye on your Texas platform threads!

Is that so? Well you might as well jump on in there and get your feet wet!

We would LOVE to have your wise council!

[Bigun]

I've been keeping an eye on your Texas platform threads!

Is that so? Well you might as well jump on in there and get your feet wet!

We would LOVE to have your wise council!