Unequal distribution of freedom, for equality’s sake

This last one was the closest thing to a pleasant spring weekend we’ve had so far (at least so far as I recall), which means that it rained and was overcast much of the time, but there was that beautiful morning and early afternoon on Saturday… before it started hailing. Dime-sized servings here, no serious damage that I could see.

The man who invented the Pringle’s potato crisp cardboard tube has passed away, and some of his ashes were buried, as per his request, in one of those impact-resistant, re-closable packages.

I suffer from low self-esteem, I know, but I think I’d have to be pretty darn secure about my family’s love before I asked one of them to spoon some of me out of the urn and transfer it to a separate container. Even if they did wear a face mask.



By way of Red State, there’s a story
about how the police in Great Britain are enforcing Gospel-free zones, where the presence of a Muslim majority makes it illegal to preach Christ.

I’m sure there are people on the Left who find this restriction of free speech repugnant. But I’m convinced a lot of them don’t see any problem. “Freedom of speech isn’t for you. It’s for them. Because they’re victims.”

This is one aspect of the major philosophical divide between conservatives and liberals today. Conservatives love freedom, and liberals love equality.

It comes down to your definition of equality, I think. Conservatives are terrified of equality as an absolute value, because it means the extinction of freedom. If you give people freedom, some will do better in the world than others. Then equality is gone. The race may not always be to the swift, but it is often enough to make the results unequal.

Liberals believe that the only real freedom is equality. If you insist on equality, then you can’t permit freedom in the traditional sense. Because freedom always ends up with the toys unequally distributed.

The bureaucrats of Britain see the Muslim population as an oppressed group which has been denied the equality it deserves. Therefore they must be given every freedom, and their opponents must be shackled, in order to achieve the supreme goal of equality.

It’s very likely too late for Great Britain, and for all of Europe. It may be too late for us, too. We’ll see.

0 thoughts on “Unequal distribution of freedom, for equality’s sake”

  1. Does Great Britain actually have “freedom of speech”? I think I remember some comment about how that’s a *@#!!$# American thing.

  2. Phil, freedom of speech is not written anywhere in the British constitution. But that’s mostly because they don’t have a written constitution. They have customs enshrined to the point they have the force of law. According to Kipling, freedom of speech is one of the rights of an Englishman. I assume he knew what he was saying.

    Lars Walker: It may be too late for us, too. We’ll see.

    Ori: In the US the people who believe in equality don’t seem to be raising as many kids as those who believe in liberty. I am willing to bet my children’s lives and liberty that it is not too late for us. Not that I have many choices on the matter.

  3. But in the pursuit of the Holy Grail (TM) of True Equality, they’re stamping out what equality actually exists. Destroying the village to save it.

    I must be to dumb to grasp the Nuance.

  4. That’s why everything has to be run by a bureaucracy. So we’ll have experts to decide who deserves how much equality. Because there’s not enough equality to go around.

  5. Only a lesser point; “According to the patent , Pringles were invented by Alexander Liepa of Montgomery, Ohio. Science Fiction and Fantasy author Gene Wolfe developed the machine that cooks them.

    – Pringles are especially known for their packaging, a tubular can with a foil-coated interior, and a resealable plastic lid (with the Pringles famous logo), that was invented by Fredric J. Baur. – Wiki

  6. Science Fiction and Fantasy author Gene Wolfe developed the machine that cooks them.

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