Re: Mayoral race
Daniel C. Burton (dan@antispam.autobahn.org)
9 Feb 1998 07:55:35 GMT
Kevin Dempsey Peterson <peterson@ocf.Berkeley.EDU> wrote in article
<Pine.SOL.3.96.980208203715.9573D-100000@apocalypse>...
I'd just like to note that we have a long American tradition of basing the
legitimacy of a government on its practical consequences, specifically its
impact on our liberty. This is the framework the founding fathers worked
in and the primary reason for the American revolution. Thomas Jefferson
thought that there would need to be a revolution every 17 years in order to
keep the torch of liberty lit. This is not the sign of someone who views
the legitimacy of government as inherant. It was a practical choice, and
eliminating it could be an acceptable practical choice as well.
Documents like the Declaration of Independence are ample proof that our
government claims no legitimacy beyond its ability to protect our
individual rights.
> >Perhaps if it does the best job of protecting people from private force
and
> >the private force would be worse than the government force -- but the
> >moment the government becomes worse it loses its legitimacy.
>
> I'm not comfortable with evaluating governments based on practical
> consequences because to do that I have to assume the superiority of my
> own moral system. My moral system says abortion is okay, someone else's
> might say abortion is murder. I would think a system which protects
> doctors from assasins is best, while someone else might think that a
> system which hangs those who perform abortion for murder is best.