Posted on 01/13/2019 8:08:53 AM PST by Az Joe
U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and other boosters of the latest redistributive fads might want to consider a parable from the ancient political philosopher Xenophon before getting carried away in their self-righteous assumptions.
There are two boys, one big and one small. The big one has a small coat, the small one has a large coat. The big one strips the large coat from the small boy and in its place gives the small boy the smaller coat. Both boys now have a coat that fits. But is this justice?
Certainly, both boys have better fitting coats. But that isnt the same as justice. Justice is concerned with who has the right to the larger coat. The one who takes it by force? Or the one who worked for it, saved for it, and bought it for himself? The answer is obvious, or at least it used to be. Not so for the freshman Democrat from the Bronx.
She wants what youve got. According to Ocasio-Cortez, the act of taking is justice. Consider her recent interview on 60 Minutes with Anderson Cooper.
“The answer is obvious, or at least it used to be.”
Great line...
That song popped into my mind as soon as I saw the headline too.
Clicked on your link. After the song I found this gem in the Up Next section.
Hunter Avallone: Cortez is an idiot!
https://youtu.be/FFUdrAliJWY
That song popped into my mind as soon as I saw the headline too.
Clicked on your link. After the song I found this gem in the Up Next section.
Hunter Avallone: Cortez is an idiot!
https://youtu.be/FFUdrAliJWY
The original story focused on the justice of taking the coat from one and giving it to the other, but it didn't dwell on the motives for why a small boy would buy the large coat in the first place. It was concerned simply that the small boy bought it, and so he should keep it. As with any parable, I expanded on this point, using the ancient story to highlight current issues.
Today, and perhaps back then too, liberals justify their takings by claiming that the motives of others don't matter, that they're wrong, that they're selfish, or that the collective could put the property to better use than the individual who owns it. In Xenophon's story, Cyrus judges that the comfort of the large boy was more important than any reason the small boy had for buying a large coat.
Cyrus decided that the large boy had a better use for the large coat than did the small boy, without considering the small boy's future use.
The city council of New London, CT, decided that they had a better use for Susette Kelo's house than she did. They bet on their own future use, which never materialized.
Ocasio-Cortez thinks she has a better use for earnings of taxpayers than we do. She wants to give health care for all, college for all, and no future retirement savings for anyone.
This article, by switching "better use" for "right," supposes that Ocasio-Cortez is always morally "right" and socially "just" because that's how ideologues think. He's right in the conclusion, but I think he misapplies the lesson of the parable.
-PJ
Take out the “parents” as well.
T & A
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