They are abstractions, but this does not necessarily mean they don't matter. However, I wish to move away from discussing them because I believe in this case, they are more the cornerstones of a personal faith rather than anything actually observable in reality. "This country is great with freedom because you can get a permit and if the government decides to give it to you you can march down the street. " OK... that's true in lots of places, not just the U.S. We hear over and over (and we have all heard this since a very young age) that we are the greatest country on Earth, but in the present moment, what is the actual basis for that?
Give me PROOF of greatness and awesomeness that isn't just intangible cornerstones of a personal faith. The only concrete evidence of the intangible cornerstones are things that apply to lots of other countries, dystopian post-colonial social democracies included. Or crap like "we're free because it's illegal to not prostrate yourself before the flag in France" despite the fact that the same people get triggered whenever they see that happening here. Given the way people act about that shit, it might as well be illegal.
Good point. If the free market is so awesome at coping with all ills, why was it strained by the pandemic? (I suppose some people account for this by blaming it by "Democrat" leadership in the areas that are most affected, but even if that absurd proposition made any sense [given that the "Democrat" areas are in fact the centers of capitalism; Wall Street isn't in fucking Wyoming], why did the disease cause the economy to come to a halt? Why couldn't such an awesome system handle the crisis on its own without government intervention?
I do think freedom and individualism are tangible and not abstractions, I think that freedom is a drive within individuals and the more it is denied or qualified the less likely it is that any society will prosper or manage crisis, the more popular that denying freedom or dismissing its importance is the more likely that some kind of authoritarianism, absolutism or totalitarianism will step into the breech.
Its tangible in a practical sense in that the US does not practice ownership of people, indentured labour, debt bondage, plantation life, all the things the confederacy held dear and their later day supporters want to see make a come back.
Not everyone has the material means to freedom and individual sovereignty, that is qualified, and a lot of coercive control has been privatized rather than abolished. So freedom really is the preserve of the few or fewer. Although, even so, it still exists. It should exist more widely than it does. Even if people consider fostering servility in others not to be a problem for them personally its only a matter of time.
So far as the economy goes, its been tested and found wanting, the resilience of society, state, leadership and economy have all been tested by the pandemic and found wanting.
The problems of the future are increasingly going to be catastrophic weather and catastrophic epidemics, pandemics, disease, its stupid to think the priorities, investment and policies of the past are the way to go in dealing with those things. Although that isnt even opinion anymore. The Jury isnt out on it. The facts and evidence is in.
