Four Freedoms

I'm a little encouraged that Rep Cantor is trying to be a Republican instead of a RHINO.  I use the RHINO term ironically -- to describe rampaging marauders with existential cravings to stamp out fires -- whatever brings warmth and light into the world.  The folks who call real Republicans RINOs.  I was pondering how to get the party back on a course where I might seek to rejoin it.  And I saw an article about the 10 most influential State of the Union addresses (I can't locate the article).  One of those listed was FDR's Four Freedom's speech of 1941.  Despite the flaws of the concept, it's worthwhile to adopt Four Freedoms as a proper end of social organization and government, and argue that voluntary actions in a market economy are the most reliable means to bring them about.  Republicans have been doing so since the days of Lincoln, but have lately forgotten how.

Are Four Freedoms big R Republican values?  Are they RHINO values?  Freedom of Speech?  RHINOs are muzzlers.  From a letter last year to Rep Hurt.

Juries are America's Sovereign (We, the People) exercising its (OUR!) power directly.  If juries are unhappy -- don't muzzle them (These RHINO's that have taken over my Party, and dare call me RINO, love their muzzles: voter suppression, jury suppression, suppression of standing of litigants).

One might add the suppression of science.  Also RHINOs seem to desire freedom from annoyance.  Our founders saw the incompatibility between speech rights and the right to comfort -- and knew that comfort is something gladly sacrificed for the ferment of ideas, opinions, demonstrations, and expressions.  I think the leading edges of the RHINO encroachment of the Republican party came with attempts to criminalize legitimate protest which might deface or damage a flag, but do not share my disgust with commercial exploitation of the flag.  I wrote an essay on that at the time, but alas, it was stored on GeoCities, now defunct.  I might stumble across a copy somewhere. The main thing is that freedom of speech is not something the speaker owns, but that a culture owns.  Anybody can yell FIRE in a crowded theater.  He's free to do so, by divine right of lungs and vocal cords.  What shall the culture suppress, and with what tools?  What the culture is most inclined to suppress, words which threaten its leading figures and presumptions, are subject to spontaneous private suppression -- "Them's Fightin' Words, Pilgrim."  It's only our commitment to free expression and refusal to regard verbal provocation as mitigation for violent response that keeps us free.

Freedom of Religion?  Please!  I hate that schools have become the arena for this.  Teachers lack rights of free expression.  Sometimes even students and voluntary associations among students, faculty, and administration.  I think Republicans and RHINOs are pretty much aligned against any who would have us restrained from vocalizing our conception of the Divine.  Or especially of those who would chose what's permitted ("The divine nature is impersonal, inertial, and immutable" of most science vs "The divine nature is intimate, volitional, and responsive" of most theism).  Where RHINOs overstep is their readiness to compel and proscribe behavior of others.  I cringe every time the oath-giver prompts "So help you God".  I have no problem with an oath-taker stating an unprompted "So help me God." -- the prompt, itself, violates freedom, though I suppose the omission of that gratuitous phrase (could it even be blasphemous?) would be political poison, with or without the prompt.

Freedom from Want?  Here is the rub.  We have no divine right -- no certain inalienable right -- against deprivation.  But there's another part of the preamble to our Declaration which goes beyond securing our rights, and affirms the role of government in "effect[ing] their Safety and Happiness." Here is where we get Freedom from Want and Freedom from Fear.  We get it because we are sovereign, as individuals.  Office holders may have some assurance of Safety and Happiness.  Capital investors too.  Intellectual Property creators and owners.  The hired help at the top of corporations with their golden parachutes.  They have that as derivative freedoms.  As means to an end.  The end being the Sovereign's Safety and Happiness -- that of individuals.  I'm not going to try to contrast real Republicans, RHINOs, and other approaches here.  Only say that Freedom from Want and Freedom from Fear are core founding values of America, not some FDR intrusion.  Pretty much came to me in writing this.  I own all four freedoms now, instead of my initial approach of submitting to a populist expectation with better means than the Democrat approach of throwing other people's money at it.  That populist expectation is both a legitimate purpose of government, perhaps THE legitimate purpose, and a legitimate reason for dismantling an ineffective government, should it fail to secure these ends.... should it fail even to honor them.