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Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: epicure who wrote (56228)	8/31/2002 8:49:03 PM
From: The Philosopher	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 82486

Aren't you at all concerned about the increasing intrusion of government into family affairs, and the assumption by the government that people can't be responsible without a law to make them that way? This is, IMO, one of the schisms that separates classical liberalism from neoliberalism. Classical liberalism celebrated individual rights AND responsibilities. Neoliberalism expands the rights almost exponentially -- people who are allergic to peanuts now have a right not to have any peanuts eaten on any airplane in the US -- but buries the responsibility side of the equation. IMO, that is not a positive thing for the long term health of our society. I started re-reading Gibbons recently. I don't have much time to spend with him, what with all the other things I'm reading, but there are some valuable lessons in there on how to destroy a civilization from the inside that we would do well to heed. In which vein, have you read the book "The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers"? I have it, but haven't gotten around to it yet. Am wondering whether I should push it higher on the reading list. If you've read it, what did you think of it?