This may be an odd thread, but with the healthcare "summit," the driving Northeast snow and the mindless push towards "bipartisanship" on the most recent jobs bill, I was reminded of this thought from "The Road to Serfdom"...
If a numerous group is needed, strong enough to impose their views on the values of life on all the rest, it will never be those with highly differentiated and developed tastes – it will be those who form the “mass” in the derogatory sense of the term, the least original and independent, who will be able to put the weight of their numbers behind their particular ideals.
[A political dictator] will be able to obtain the support of all the docile and gullible, who have no strong convictions of their own but are prepared to accept a ready-made system of values if it is only drummed in to their ears sufficiently loudly and frequently. It will be those whose vague and imperfectly formed ideas are easily swayed and whose passions and emotions are readily aroused who will thus swell the ranks of the totalitarian party.
It is in connection with the deliberate effort of the skilful demagogue to weld together a closely coherent and homogeneous body of supporters that the third and perhaps most important negative element of selection enters. It seems to be almost a law of human nature that it is easier for people to agree on a negative program – on the hatred of an enemy, on the envy of those better off – than on any positive task.
...which sums up my views on the political time we live in and I would add...
Healthcare reform should be dead - the people have spoken. Yet, Obama holds a "summit" where both sides are bickering pathetically and are completely opposed to one another philosophically. If there is anything "done" on this issue this year, radical compromise would be a prerequisite - something that will produce a "low standard" result based on the views of the "lowest common denominator" in our society.
We had a "Climate Conference" and the constant call for "action" to save the environment, yet I'm shoveling more snow this year than I can ever remember. I know that's not scientific, but just like with these global warming alarmists, if I drum it in people's ears "loudly and frequently" enough, you never know.
We passed a "jobs bill" recently that will cost billions and billions of dollars to American taxpayers. Besides the fact that it is commonly accepted that government can't "create" jobs, the method we use to pay for these pointless programs necessitates building up hatred for an enemy. In this day and age, it is of the "banker" or, better stated, the evil "investment banker." To truly stimulate the economy, the "positive task" needed from government would be to shrink itself as much as possible and get out of the way - leaving more resources for the private sector to invest in jobs. Yet, that would make the "enemy" government itself and I see few with the moral and ethical courage in D.C. to be takers for that message.
Hayek closed with this one...
Once you admit that the individual is merely a means to serve the ends of the higher entity called society or the nation, most of those features of totalitarian regimes which horrify us follow of necessity.
...or said in another way by another famous "skilful demagogue," President Kennedy,...
And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country.
...which was followed by this chilling statement...
My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.
...by definition, anything that is done by "the citizens of the world" will NOT be towards the "freedom of man," but more accurately, to the direct opposite...
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