"Finer Clay"
Posted by Krista, Aug. 26, 2009
Perhaps the most fundamental nonsense in collectivist dogma is that while all people are equal, some people are “more equal” than others.
The idea that – rather than all mankind being born with the same basic rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness – some mankind have a) more rights than others and are thereby fit to rule over others; or b) fewer rights than others and are thereby undeserving of respect for their natural rights, is, in a word, demonic.
I’ll focus on the former for now, as we see it so frequently in practice.
Those unprincipled individuals in elected office tend to take upon themselves a “creator” role – and the longer they spend in office, the greater grows that tendency and view of their own benevolence toward us, who, no longer their employers, have somehow become their wards.
They seem to think, as Bastiat put it, that:
…Heaven has bestowed upon certain men – governors and legislators – the exact opposite inclinations [from mankind in general], not only for their own sake but also for the sake of the rest of the world! While mankind tends toward evil, the legislators yearn for good. …
Since they have decided that this is the true state of affairs, they then demand the use of force in order to substitute their own inclinations for those of the human race.
What arrogance! What unseemly opinion do these legislators hold of us, the Great Unwashed? Perhaps that we’re too dangerous? Ignorant? Deceitful? And how dare we question their plans, let alone their intentions?
Again, we see this elitist attitude in practice all the time – and coming out ever more openly.
Imbuing fallible human beings – whether in government, media, or academia – with enough power to make or break all of our lives is the true danger.
Here’s another famous gem from Bastiat:
If the natural tendencies of mankind are so bad that it is not safe to permit people to be free, how is it that the tendencies of these organizers are always good? Do not the legislators and their appointed agents also belong to the human race? Or do they believe that they themselves are made of a finer clay than the rest of mankind?
Do we?
August 26th, 2009 on 4:03 pm
Perhaps that is the corrupting influence of power and position – that with the acquisition of either people are liable to begin believing that their motives are more virtuous than other people – if so I would consider it a hallmark of a good candidate that they would acknowledge that they have the potential to become thus corrupted while in office.
August 26th, 2009 on 7:44 pm
Unfortunately, many Americans also buy into this theory, either consciously or subconsciously. Some have come to very nearly worship their political leaders and their potential political leaders. When it already requires an outsized ego to run for political office, we cannot place al the blame on the politicians when fawning followers express their undying loyalty and adoration for them.