MY PROBLEM WITH LIBERAL ELITISM
by Avery Davis

I would like to tell you about a problem I have with a certain aspect of
liberalism.

Several weeks ago, I heard a Clinton-appointed government official say, "We
can spend your money better than you can."  I actually heard this on one of
those Sunday afternoon "firing line" type of shows.  On reflection, I find
that this is a great example of how liberal elitism can be completely
inconsistent with itself.  To explain this, I must first digress with a
quotation from The Small Book by Jack Trimpey:

"Long ago, the philosophers Aristotle and Plato described their visions of
man in the universe, and to this day these two schools of thought divide
the discourse on human affairs into two very broad categories, the
Aristotelian rational and the Platonic irrational. ... To greatly simplify,
Aristotle perceived reality as knowable and humans as essentially rational
beings - knowers and doers.  To him, A=A, i.e., things are pretty much as
they appear to be.  To Plato, reality is largely unknowable except as
revealed esoterically to a learned class; the average person cannot trust
his or her own senses and ability to reason - in other words, what you see
is not what you get, or A/=A.  People seem inclined to one viewpoint or the
other, depending on early learning, formal education, or perhaps innate
disposition or cerebral hemispheric dominance.  Skepticism is Aristotelian,
faith is Platonic." "...Plato argued that the many should accept on faith
what could be seen by the very few, while Aristotle argued that reason
reveals natural truth to each person."

The liberal elites seem to champion freedom from religion, as evidenced by
some of their extreme measures to ensure separation of church and state, to
the extent that secular humanism has become almost synonymous with atheism.
But then, when they get into government and say things like "We can spend
your money better than you can", they are expressing the liberal elitist
attitude that they are the few, the learned class that everyone else should
have faith in.  Like Pogo's famous quotation, "we have met the enemy and he
is us", the liberal elitist has become the theocrat she has been so afraid
would come to power in government.

Now, I am not a Republican-Conservative, I am a Libertarian, and that
is a lot more than merely a "Republican with cramps".  My problem is with
big government becoming more intrusive into my life, be it from the Left or
from the Right.  Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
This is what has happened to both Democrats and Republicans in Washington,
and this was why Americans voted the way they did in 1994, electing the
largest freshman class of Congressmen in a long time.  It was just the
misfortune of the Democrats to have the most incumbants up for reelection
at that time.  Now, in a Presidential election year, the Politicians are
trotting out the best rhetoric trying to cast every issue into a bipartisan
Democrat/Liberal vs. Republican/Conservative conflict.  But, there are
other dimensions to the issues, and Libertarianism is at least one of the
most vocal if not popular.  Many Republicans, and a few Democrats, have
picked up on this and have incorporated Libertarian-sounding rhetoric into
their campaigns.  But, almost all of them conducted business-as-usual when
they got in to office.  This is why I support Harry Browne for President.
Its about time for real change in Government!