Tough to decide between fun political issues or more significant albeit drier economic issues like the limitations of real neoclassical welfare economics and how it differs from ubiquitous bad economics in the conservative style. Maybe politics this week? The rhetoric of liberty?
The element of liberty versus tyranny rhetoric I find interesting is the bit dealing with political versus economic power. The definition, distribution, use of economic power rests on law, property rights, contracts, decision to use markets, etc., which come from government, hence political power. In that sense, one may say political power is logically prior to economic power and defines, establishes, distributes, enforces, and provides parameters for using it to allocate resources. So one element of the liberty versus tyranny rhetoric is the definition, distribution, use of political power. In that context, one may say nothing is logically prior to political power beyond the normative views of various people about political power including the governed. So one may say in that context, the “liberty” of the governed involves them having a say in politics, government, law, and so on. “Tyranny” in that context might be the governed being unable to get a word in edgewise because someone or some group of bigwigs posing as ethical arbiters for society is dictating the necessary normative inputs underlying laws relating to economic power, etc. That’s how liberals might define it.
Conservatives put it the other way around. They start with favored laws relating to the definition, distribution, use of economic power as fundamental to their “liberty” and perceive changes to their preferred legal arrangements generated perhaps by voters, democratic government, as “tyranny.” That’s how so many conservatives end up talking about the ostensible “tyranny of democracy” or “tyranny of liberalism” while lauding the liberty or freedom conferred by laws consistent with conservative views on the definition, distribution, use of economic power. This is also what leads conservatives into their muddled support sometimes for explicit fascism, with the right sort making the correct laws, sometimes for fake or real anarchism, with the correct laws ostensibly arising spontaneously or the people naturally obeying correct virtual laws.
Reject misleading rhetoric involving words like “liberty” or “freedom” or “tyranny” in general, vague, ill-defined, simplistic terms. Those are manipulative straw man arguments. The question always is whose liberty and freedom to do what, exactly, and how are others involved. Pay no attention to simplistic, manipulative, tricksy, false conservative, Republican political rhetoric cooked up by sleazy advertising types and fascist propaganda outfits. Think about real issues in a serious way. The world already has plenty of hot air to go around. Don’t worry about that.
