Freedom Versus Democracy

A Druid like me, Crumby, would never be caught dead at one of those noveau tea parties. That’s partly because I routinely use French words like noveau. What if I spoke out some Frenchified word like noveau at the tea party? What if I commented to some of the other attendees?, Say, this sure is some noveau white trash bullshit, yall. Man alive! Talking like that might get me fucked up, maybe, but probably not. Because, I suspect, the attendees at those tea parties are too crazy, and sunstruck, to understand much of anything. For them, its all just great noise, similar to all the great noise the Germans enjoyed at Hitler Youth rallies. Whereas, for the rational, its just noise pollution.

Even though I did not and never would attend a tea party, I know the participants whooped for freedom. That’s because freedom has the potential to encompass no taxes, no public schools, no public land (like, for example, Zilker Park where a tea party occurred), no social security, etc. Or expressed positively, freedom may say yes to property rights, secession or even slavery (the freedom to hold people as property).

In a democracy, on the other hand, the majority of people may decide that cardboard recycling is a good idea. Many may participate in the recycling of the cardboard. Many may not. Many may not for several reasons. Some may believe there is plenty of cardboard, so why recycle. Some may believe that recycling is messing with the natural order which may involve God always providing plenty of cardboard. No need to recycle. Some may not like that profits made from recycling may go to the Mafia. Some may not like that recycling has rules.

What are two well-known rules of cardboard recycling that fly in the face of freedom? Easy money, break down your boxes and actually put your boxes in the dumpster or receptacle. These are two rules a democrat may find easy to follow, but the freedom lover may find the rules make too tight a demand on personal liberty. So the freedom lover just tosses out the boxes next to the dumpster, or into the creek, and the boxes become the democrats’ problem. Mercy!