It turns out that Americans grasp that it’s foolish to try to make people like themselves — but they sure are happy to lend a hand when they see people who are like themselves. It also turns out that Americans have a pretty good grasp of the national interest, and factor both sentiment and calculation into their preference on what ought to be done.
"Some men kiss their chains"
But not all do. Niall Ferguson observes that it's foolish to assume everyone shares our value for freedom, but there's no need to ignore those who do.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
The distinction between those who value freedom and those who do not, though, doesn't neatly follow national boundaries. There are more than a few Americans who value other things--security, social approval, 'virtue' in some sense---much more than they value freedom.
Dostoyevsky had something to say about this:
https://chicagoboyz.net/archives/41494.html
Post a Comment