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Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Let No Man Distinguish Himself

"There is a passage in Heraclitus, the natural philosopher, relating to Hermadorus, the leading citizen of Ephesus, where he says that the whole body of the Ephesians ought to be put to death, because, when they drove Hermodorus  out of their community, they used this language:  'Let no single man among us distinguish himself above the rest;  but if any such appear, let hem live elsewhere and amongst other men.'"  Cicero, Tusculan Disputations Book V Paragraph 36 (J.E. King trans.)

       The problem with modern America is that we have gone from being a society that discriminated for stupid reasons, to a society that cannot discriminate for good reasons.  The result is that Americans are now being told that it is bigoted to oppose gay marriage, unpatriotic to oppose high taxes, and sexist to resist abortion.  The result is an extreme and unthinking equality.  The oddball used to be a source of American ingenuity-- think Steve Jobs or Thomas Edison.  The new America will steamroll the oddball, or force him to conform to the standards provided by omnipotent government.

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