In the “Public Good” or for “Individual Liberty”.
Recently I was reading First Principles: What America’s Founders Learned from the Greeks and Romans and How That Shaped Our Country by Thomas E. Ricks. And a term came up that was worth visiting, a term the founders studied and debated, what was the “Public Good”. This topic becomes even more relevant during the Coronavirus pandemic, where “Individual Liberty” comes into conflict with Public Safety.
The “Public Good” has two definitions. The first is that of a commodity or service, think here as roads and bridges, healthcare and, public schools. The second is that of rules and measures put in place to protect the public. For example, we cannot murder because that will hurt other people. In simple terms, we are giving up some freedom for public safety.
Meanwhile, we as Americans have always cherished the idea of “Individual Liberty”, that the government should not have the power to boss around. In particular, this is a term beloved by conservatives. In just the past few decades this has come up as a buzzword on certain issues like mask mandates and gun control.
The Modern Democrats have always been a proponent of the “Public Good”. They hope to improve and expand social services and infrastructure, to pay for this they propose increasing taxes on the wealthy. Joe Biden is continuing this, he recently revealed a two trillion infrastructure plan. Beyond the expected roads and bridges he includes; broadband, eldercare, investments in STEM, Electric Vehicles, replacing lead pipes, more affordable housing, more options for community colleges, make unionizing easier and, pandemic precautions.
In opposition, to this bigger government approach come the Modern Republicans. They say for America to continue towards the future we must help businesses by lowering taxes, promoting competition, and peeling away regulations. The most recent Republican trifecta implemented massive tax cuts, they hoped that this would grow businesses. Did this work? Well, there is no consensus. Republicans will happily point to the thriving economy before the pandemic, while the Democrats say this slowed our economy down leading to economic disaster.
Also, much more recently in politics comes the debate of how much the government should get involved in keeping their citizens safe. The Modern Democrats have said the government should take every action to keep the public safe. Before the pandemic, the Democrats were most clear in this belief when it came to gun control. Democrats called for increased gun restrictions, an end to guns in public, and a ban on assault weapons. This call for action would be brought up after every major gun tragedy specifically Newtown, Parkland and, Aurora. This same debate has also been modified into the pandemic. Top physicians have encouraged Americans to wear masks, and Democrats have full-heartedly embraced this cause. Joe Biden’s first executive action was to require masks on federal property and institute a 100-day masking challenge.
Modern Republicans have taken the other side of these two debates. For gun control, they oppose almost all gun control measures. They also will repeatedly state that gun owners are “law-abiding citizens”. The NRAs EVP took this notion further by stating “The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is with a good guy with a gun”. In the debate on masks, most Republicans have taken the position of “it's up to you”. They simply say, its my choice whether to wear a mask or not, you shouldn’t be forcing me. Their is simply not much more to explain here.
So, we have a party on the side of the “Public Good” and another backing “Individual Liberty”, where do we go from here? Likely speaking most of you have made up your minds, reading the arguments I laid out you probably picked one of the sides. I tried my best here to be non-biased, hopefully this was fair. I consider my self to be a moderate. I’ll state here that I used to have more Liberal views, but over time I have drifted centerwards, this is quite shocking coming from a democratic family in New York. As I have grown a developed my political beliefs I have tried to listen to both sides. This hasen’t kept me from having my own greivences with particular characters, I specifically despised Former President Trump. So while I was a Biden Backer, I find myself in a very small slice of people who backed Biden and are willing to criticize him. Need one proof, I feel that he failed at the border, but this should not become a rant.
Either way as I come from this I have made my mind on this argument. So what did I choose the “Public Good” or “Individual Liberty”? My answer: both. I feel as if balance is the solution. Most societies that have chosen the extreme of both sides have failed. Those who stated they believed in the “Public Good” have ended up becoming gigantic bureaucracies and oppresive regimes, regimes that Republicans will call “Socialist”. The societies that have chosen extreme “Individual Liberty” had no governments at all, these were our pre-civilized times. Humans could kill and plunder to their hearts content, leading to a depressed world. As we debate and discuss further as Americans we must always come to a balance, making sure we don’t go to far in a certain direction.
