3/31/09

More wisdom...

The problems go farther. Man is social, and community requires the common goods liberalism denies. If I say that I am American the claim is insignificant unless Americans are united by something that they recognize collectively as good. In liberal society, however, the only thing that can be recognized in common as a substantive good is the goal implicit in all individual desire, the ability to get what one wants. That ability is most readily recognized in the form of money, power and success, and liberalism therefore turns society into an assortment of individuals related by those things. Under such conditions men lose substantive connection to others and with it their sense of who they are; personal identity becomes a matter of bank balances and shifting private fantasies, and the individual, for whose sake liberalism was invented, evaporates.

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2 comments:

Dave said...

Father John,

Have enjoyed reading your blog. It is very informative. This artilcle in particular answers many of the frustrations we have with government, media, and even the Church.
Fortunately, we have a Savior who is in charge working and accomplishing His purpose and will.

My political position becomes increasingly "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as in heaven".

Thank you and bless you

Dave

Eric James said...

What a weird definiton of the liberal tradition! It was entertaining, albeit totally insubstantive (i.e., statements such as the one that the goal is individual desire and to get what one wants -- when in fact most liberal thought is demonstrably centered on human dignity, and providing for what the individual *needs*).