COMMENTARY: Liberal Structuralism

The moderate-conservative Republican, on how liberalism distrusts individual liberty: "What is at stake here, in my view, is the very idea of the capacity of individuals for good. And I think that idea will die for lack of experience of its fundamental operation which is the employment of one man by another. For me to see some quality in another man and for me to take the risk in paying that man out of my own pocket for him to do a job is the elemental transaction of industry. For us to agree is a contract. The pledge of one man to do and another to pay. That's what we cannot forget, lest we forget the very pillar of civilization. For any man who has good honest work and who is entrusted to do it and does it, must inevitably become a good honest man. And so any man understanding that, should he manage to accumulate the means, must then continue and finding other men and good honest work for them in turn. The examples are all around today and in history should we bother to look. But there is a political class in this country that is prepared to agitate against that simple bond and redefine what work and industry are."

Cobb continues his commentary on how liberalism undermines contractual free will: "The difference between capitalism and everything else is that capitalism honors the contract between individuals and subjects it to the minimum of interference from the government. To the man who risks to pay goes the profit without third parties telling him how. To the man who delivers the work goes the pay without third parties taking a piece. These are the relationships into which non-capitalists wish so ardently to stick their noses. They wish always to investigate, criticize, second-guess, adjust, adjudicate, reform, correct, oh and take a piece of the action for their involvement, their blessing, their approval, their eternal self-righteous and condescending tolerance. Why? Well for the good of the masses of course. For the people who cannot manage to broker their own deals, to enter into face to face contracts for good honest work. For people to climb pre-fabricated ladders to 'success', ladders built by lawyers and their superfluous laws. For the sake of a 'structure' that is 'equitable', for the sake of a 'safety net' for the 'forgotten'."

And more: "You'll never find an adequate amount of charity from the liberal towards liberal causes. By definition they must draft the unwilling, they must bend those who disagree to their will. They choose to redefine the world in defiance of private arrangements so that they can tax a fraction of the world in their master plans to redefine the world. And so for their aims of global justice, world peace, universal rights they are never satisfied with localities. Their ambition is total, their need for panoptic control is insatiable."