Monday, March 28, 2005

Retraction?...perhaps

I recently posted a critique of democracy, which may contain an erroneous quote that is attributed to Alexander Tyler. This may be an amalgamation of various statements made over time…or not. An alleged clarification was brought to my attention. I say this because I have not independently verified the source material, as is true for the quote, so one should make one’s own judgment.

Whether the aforementioned quote is “authentic” or not, my view of direct democracy stands. History, and indeed the present, shows that a segment of society has no qualms about relieving their neighbor of money and/or property in the name of “social justice”. Therefore, I could not care less if an historical scholar uttered those words or not. I find them to be logical and reasonable.

The primary reason for this “clarification” is to reveal a bit of my guiding philosophy. Primarily, I endeavor to be aware of that which I know and indeed that which I don’t know. Secondly, I try to be as skeptical as possible, while not dismising empirical evidence. I am a work in progress.