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Wed, 17 Apr 2002 08:45:26 -0700

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No, I have no particular fear of Mexicans or Canadians - I am more
concerned about home grown tyrants who take greater and greater shares
of personal liberty to promote their idea of the common good - my father
is no longer free to burn trash in his yard (local pollution
regulations), in many states poor people are no longer free to drive old
jalopies that they could afford (safety inspections), in a variety of
circumstances people are no longer free to smoke, drink, or gamble -
sins perhaps - but one was generally free to do it in the 19th century -
I can go on if you are interested in further examples - the tyrants
would argue that the common good outweighs liberty of individuals and in
their drive for their view of justice and equality they will likely
crush liberty - the classical liberal movement and the accompanying
enlightenment flowered in the 18th century, I suppose there is no
guarantee that winter will not come and the flower of freedom will die
in the cold - Tony

-----Original Message-----
From: trauma-list-admin@trauma.org [mailto:trauma-list-admin@trauma.org]
On Behalf Of MarkCFitz@aol.com
Sent: Tuesday, April 16, 2002 11:47 PM
To: trauma-list@trauma.org
Subject: (no subject)

Hi Tony,

Is it your conclusion that you will tolerate the high level of
interpersonal, penetrating trauma as a safeguard against a ?Canadian or
?Mexican invasion?

Mark Fitzgerald

I would expect that the list administrator will soon jump on
all of this as "off-topic" but I have only written one other post
(a very brief one) that could be considered such so I will post
a brief comment;

In addition to being a paramedic student I am a political science
professor at a community college in the United States. DeTocqueville
seems now as prophetic when he addressed the tension between liberty and
equality. It appears that since the 18th century there has been a
continuing 
assault on liberty by ideas and persons advocating (primarily economic) 
equality. It is true that we have much greater economic and social
equality
in the modern world but it is also true that we are much less free. Has
it been
a worthwhile tradeoff? I don't know. I believe that many people are
adamant
about firearms because it is the last best defense against tyranny. It
is true
that the Czechs were helpless in 1968, in part because they had no
firearms.
It is also true that the Afghans held off the Red Army in 1979 by
themselves
in part because they were armed (well before outside assistance came
pouring
in). Anyway, I guess my comment is that many people feel strongly about
firearms because they believe that the weapons would ultimately allow
them
to fend off tyranny. I say this realizing that concepts like liberty are
passe to
our sophisticated cousins in Europe and Australia.

Tony

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<DIV>No, I=20
have no particular fear of Mexicans or Canadians - I am more concerned =
about=20
home grown tyrants who take greater and greater shares of personal =
liberty to=20
promote their idea of the common good - my father is no longer free to =
burn=20
trash in his yard (local pollution regulations), in many states poor =
people are=20
no longer free to drive old jalopies that they could afford (safety=20
inspections), in a variety of circumstances people are no longer free to =
smoke,=20
drink, or gamble - sins perhaps - but one was generally free to do it in =
the=20
19th century - I can go on if you are interested in further examples - =
the=20
tyrants would argue that the common good outweighs liberty of =
individuals and in=20
their drive for their view of justice and equality they will likely =
crush=20
liberty - the classical liberal movement and the accompanying =
enlightenment=20
flowered in the 18th century, I suppose there is no guarantee that =
winter will=20
not come and the flower of freedom will die in the cold -=20
Tony</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE style=3D"MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
 <DIV></DIV>
 <DIV class=3DOutlookMessageHeader lang=3Den-us dir=3Dltr =
align=3Dleft><FONT=20
 face=3DTahoma size=3D2>-----Original Message----- From:=20
 trauma-list-admin@trauma.org [mailto:trauma-list-admin@trauma.org] =
On=20
 Behalf Of MarkCFitz@aol.com Sent: Tuesday, April 16, =
2002 11:47=20
 PM To: trauma-list@trauma.org Subject: (no=20
 subject) </DIV>Hi =
Tony, Is it your=20
 conclusion that you will tolerate the high level of interpersonal, =
penetrating=20
 trauma as a safeguard against a ?Canadian or ?Mexican =
invasion? Mark=20
 Fitzgerald I would expect that the list =
administrator will=20
 soon jump on all of this as "off-topic" but I have only =
written one=20
 other post (a very brief one) that could be considered such =
so I will=20
 post a brief comment; In addition to being a paramedic student I am a =
political=20
 science professor at a community college in the United =
States.=20
 DeTocqueville seems now as prophetic when he addressed the =
tension=20
 between liberty and equality. It appears that since the 18th century =
there has=20
 been a continuing assault on liberty by ideas and persons =
advocating=20
 (primarily economic) equality. It is true that we have much greater =
economic and=20
 social equality in the modern world but it is also true that we =
are much=20
 less free. Has it been a worthwhile tradeoff? I don't know. I believe =
that many=20
 people are adamant about firearms because it is the last best =
defense against=20
 tyranny. It is true that the Czechs were helpless in 1968, in part =
because they=20
 had no firearms. It is also true that the Afghans held off the Red =
Army in=20
 1979 by themselves in part because they were armed (well before =
outside=20
 assistance came pouring in). Anyway, I guess my comment is that many =
people feel=20
 strongly about firearms because they believe that the weapons =
would=20
 ultimately allow them to fend off tyranny. I say this realizing that =
concepts=20
 like liberty are passe to our sophisticated cousins in Europe and=20
 Australia. Tony </BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>

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