progressivism, individualism, and the public ... - Telmarc Group

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The Telmarc Group PROGRESSIVISM, INDIVIDUALISM, AND THE PUBLIC INTELLECTUAL to further flatten the distribution of wealth to all. In their mind the skewed distribution is almost immoral. There should be equality of wealth because wealth in a Galbraithian sense if inherently evil. Wealth however is defined on their terms. 7. The People can readily be motivated by media to act in accord with Government: People are artificially motivated to consume commercial products by corporations to the detriment of public services, goods, and the environment. The Administration's plan for cap and trade is an example of how the Administration seeks to flow money from the consumers, the people, to programs and projects that the Government believes are better. The Stimulus package is another step in the direction. Unlike the New Deal, the current Administration has taken massive moves in those areas. 6.3 AMITAI ETZIONI Etzioni is a Professor at George Washington University and has been a strong proponent of the communitarian school. To a simplistic degree communitarian emphasize the group, the community and minimize and almost exclude the individual. 6.3.1 Communitarian Etzioni is a communitarian. He states that: “Communitarianism holds that a good society seeks a carefully crafted balance between individual rights and social responsibilities, between liberty and the common good…” 162 He further notes in the introduction of his book: “my first call is to demonstrate that immoderate champions of privacy have not merely engaged in rhetorical excesses but that these excesses had significant and detrimental effects.” Etzioni further goes on to state: “while we use voluntarily more …ID cards…they are inadequate…all people be required to identify themselves when asked to do so by public authority..” He totally rejects the Fourth Amendment, he takes a neo-Nazi neo-Stalinist view that some benign public authority has the right to demand from the public, for no good reason, that they totally abandon all their constitutional rights. Etzioni goes on to “re-examine” the privacy arguments. He criticized Warren and Brandeis, then criticized Griswold on the basis that although contraception may be good 162 Etzioni, p. 5. Page 156
The Telmarc Group PROGRESSIVISM, INDIVIDUALISM, AND THE PUBLIC INTELLECTUAL the right recognized under Griswold may lead to “ the unbounded nature of the position embraced..” 163 Etzioni goes on to suggest eliminating privacy as we now know it for such areas as national ID cards, implanting biometric identifiers in humans, expanding the Megan’s law disclosures, increasing government control over encryption, disclosing who has AIDs, and other such areas. Etzioni would see the release of all medical records record if he sees them for the public good. In many ways Etzioni is not an aberration but a clear example of what certain major and influential groups want, namely government access and control over not only information but the individual. The ID cards are a single first step, but the biometric plants are horrifying. 6.3.2 Disdain for Individualists Here is a typical Etzioni viewpoint 164 : "The U.S. Department of Justice should draft a contract for every American who opposes "big government" and wishes to cut it down and have their taxes slashed. The contract should stipulate that those who sign it will have to pay only a third of the regular tax rate (to cover the costs of our military and homeland security). However, in exchange they will not be entitled to any government services. They will not be able to obtain passports, enter public parks, or use the highway system paid for by the federal government. They will all go on the no-fly list because they have not paid for the air control system. They will have to take their children out of public schools. Above all, if they grow ill, they will have to pay the doctors a fee that will help cover the costs of training these physicians which is now largely covered by the federal government. If they are hospitalized, they will have to pay their share of the building costs, also often largely covered by the federal government, including of the so called “private” hospitals. The contract will of course have to be much longer. In effect, I suspect that it will extend to at least 20 single-spaced pages. However, you get the point. We shall never be able to gain a hearing from the millions who have been brainwashed by the libertarian nonsense and its laissez-faire conservative accompaniments until we find a dramatic way to drive home the point that although there is great room - in effect, urgent need - to reform our government, nobody really wants to live without most of the services it does provide. And if a bunch of libertarians want to sign the contract and move to some mountaintop and take care of each other, so be it. Just remind them not to call 911 in an emergency." 163 Etzioni, p. 193. 164 http://www.politico.com/arena/bio/amitai_etzioni.html on July 10, 2010-07-10 Page 157
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The Telmarc Group and the Progressi
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progressivism, individualism, and the public ... - Telmarc Group

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