FC: Salon's Norah Vincent, ex-civil libertarian: "Freedom begets evil"

From: Declan McCullagh (declanat_private)
Date: Sun Nov 04 2001 - 12:13:15 PST

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    [Well, yes, freedom can beget evil, but evil seems to be found even more in 
    restrictive societies that sharply curtail liberty. This seems to be a sad 
    case of a columnist looking for a good line and a convenient defection than 
    any thoughtful "reevaluation." --Declan]
    
    ---
    
    http://salon.com/news/col/vincent/2001/11/02/libertarians/index_np.html
    
        Freedom begets evil, and other realizations
        For civil libertarians -- like myself -- war is a time for some harsh
        reevaluation.
    
        By Norah Vincent
    
        Nov. 2, 2001 | Civil libertarians can be so smug. I should know. I am
        one. Or, I have professed to be one until now. Proudly, as it happens.
        Haughtily even. "I'm with the good guys," I told myself. "Not the
        theocrats. Not the anarchists. Just the right on, straight shooting,
        Bill of Rights toting crowd."
    
        Not anymore. Now it seems I'm with the sticklers, the devils who revel
        in the details, the litigious brake-slammers every American is
        learning to hate. That is to say, I'm still a civil libertarian, but
        I'm not always so proud of it anymore. And, if we're honest with
        ourselves, none of us should be.
    
        The reason is very simple. Freedom begets evil.
    
        [...] 
    
    
    
    
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