Yes, I’m using “Daily” in the title, despite my inconsistent blogging habit, mainly with the hope of committing to a daily routine here again. And today’s quote comes from page 83 of Jose Ortega y Gasset’s 1932 masterpiece, The Revolt of the Masses:
“Liberalism, it is well to recall this day, is the supreme form of generosity; it is the right which the majority concedes to minorities and hence it is the noblest cry that has ever resounded on this planet. It announces the determination to share existence with the enemy; more than that, with an enemy which is weak. It was incredible that the human species should have arrived at so noble an attitude, so paradoxical, so refined, so anti-natural. Hence it is not to be wondered at that this same humanity should soon appear anxious to get rid of it. It is a discipline too difficult and complex to take firm root on earth.”
The term ‘liberalism’ here used is referring to 19th century “classical liberalism”, the liberalism that held as its noblest ideal that of liberty, and the noblest goal being that of extending the sphere of voluntary cooperation between consenting adults as far as possible, of breaking down the legal prison that every government on the planet had up to then placed around their subjects. That term may be lost today, but the ideas behind it are burning as bright as ever, whether in the marijuana legalization movement, the vaccine choice movement, as well as the various movements to halt and reverse the rapid growth of the total Surveillance State. The most effective way to empower each and every single person in this country, and give them the greatest chance for success in this life, is to expand their ability to choose, to remove every possible barrier to their choices. To advocate for liberty is to advocate for an ideal of unrestricted choice.
