Intellectual Slavery, Right and Left
People on the political right in this country have chained their minds to President Trump. People on the political left in this country have chained their minds to a political ideology developed in the 1960’s. Both of those groups have entered voluntarily into intellectual enslavement; the more politically engaged they are, the stronger their intellectual bondage is.
Intellectual slavishness is fatal for democracy. At bottom, democracy is a process for nonviolent social change. Intellectual enslavement makes that impossible.
Over time, circumstances change. Knowledge advances. Nations must adapt.
Democratic nations have a decisive practical advantage over nations with other forms of governance. In a democratic political process new ideas can come to the fore as needed for the benefit of the nation.
It is the responsibility of citizens of a democratic nation to be on the lookout for new ideas, to learn about them and spread the word about their existence. Intellectual slaves cannot do that.
At stake is the future of Liberal society: a democratic political process and the rule of law with the primacy of liberty for all as its primary concern. I implore anyone who gives a damn whether the U.S. continues as a Liberal nation to read “Equality Is All We Need” (here in Medium). I feel certain that people on the left and the right politically who do read it will be equally surprised. If it is nothing else, it is a new and different perspective on Liberal society.