I read an essay by the late Murray Rothbard recently, taken from his book "Egalitarianism as a Revolt Against Nature." In the essay, he focuses on the reasons that habitancy pick to be Libertarians, and the reasons others pick Utilitarianism. (note that he wrote "Libertarians," not "liberty." One can love liberty without becoming a Libertarian.)
I admit that I did not have a clear comprehension of the definition of the word "utilitarianism." So, I looked it up in a few dictionaries. To my utter shock, I discovered the philosophical underpinning of our Us Federal Government.
Webster's Dictionary defines "utilitarianism" thus:
"1. The doctrine that the greatest happiness of the greatest whole should be the end and aim of all group and political institutions. --Jeremy Bentham
2. The doctrine that virtue is founded in utility, or that virtue is defined and enforced by its tendency to promote the highest happiness of the universe. --John Stuart Mill
3. The doctrine that utility is the sole approved of morality, so that the rectitude of an performance is considered by its usefulness."
A few thoughts have percolated straight through my gray matter in this regard:
A. Every someone has a worldview. It is a compilation of palpate and education. It is the filter...the rose-colored glasses, so to speak...through which we value our world and the cosmos. Many habitancy go straight through their entire lives unaware of their own world view, but it's always there. It may turn as life passes, or it can remain calcified for a lifetime.
Your worldview will either draw you to, or repel you from, definite things. But your worldview is the yardstick with which you part all things. So, in this context, a someone that believed strongly in private rights, natural law and asset rights would be repelled by strong government. Conversely, a someone who believed in the efficacy of government would be drawn to Utilitarianism.
Capitalism, and the Us Constitution, were built on absolutes, an iron stake driven into frozen earth. Utilitarianism is as fluid as water, seeking its own level, and taking the shape of its container. Capitalism has inviolable principles, and the Constitution strictly little the scope of the Federal Government. Utilitarianism goes along to get along, and forsakes absolutes.
Utilitarianism is an existentialist manifestation of "situational ethics." If one promotes the greatest good for the greatest number, one must also accept that the "greatest good" will turn from issue to issue. So Utilitarianism can't stand absolutes.
B. Utilitarians are kindred spirits with Socialists. Socialism is a kind of political average on the journey from Capitalism to Communism. The Usa began with a Capitalist worldview combined with fierce security of private asset rights. Utilitarian politicians have, over time, eroded those asset rights with laws supposedly promoting the greatest good for the greatest number. Naturally, those laws would want ever-creeping governmental control over asset rights. Socialists can tolerate Capitalism so long as the government has original control over the economy, citizens and their asset rights. So, Socialists are all Utilitarians, but not all Utilitarians are necessarily Socialists.
C. Nature abhors a vacuum. As Capitalist/Constitutional absolutes have been forsaken, Utilitarian doctrine has rushed into the void. We now have a Federal Government filled with habitancy that believe that utility is the sole approved of morality, so that the rectitude of an performance is considered by its usefulness. That is the very imagine why Congress could vote in favor a multi-billion dollar bailout of the financial markets when the bailout is clearly unconstitutional.
Finally, in the tragedy and comedy which is the Us Federal Government, they prove, once again, that they cannot even make Utilitarianism work correctly. They turn it on its head, and the greatest whole become the sheep, sheared to bring the greatest good to a small extra interest who are compassionate with their campaign contributions.
had me going freedom Or Utilitarianism - Mutually Exclusive Ethical Systems had me going
No comments:
Post a Comment