In his victory speech, Republicrat John McCain spoke of what he sees as the value of holding principles above oneself.
I don’t understand. If I value the principle of freedom above myself, then does this mean I am not supposed to personally benefit from this freedom? Does it mean that I should value the freedom of everyone else more than freedom for myself? Or that I should not value freedom for myself, at all? This seems, to me, dishonest and hypocritical. I value freedom because it personally benefits me. Anyone rational will feel the same.
McCain’s attitude is an old one. It’s the very attitude that will enable the younger candidates–Clinton, Huckabee, Obama–to attack capitalism and further socialize our economy if they manage to win election to the Presidency rather than McCain. If McCain actually wins the Presidency, I suppose he’ll succumb to much, if not all, of what Senators Clinton and Obama propose. After all, they’re all on the same page, morally speaking: Self doesn’t matter, while the collective does.
John McCain is supposed to be a great American. But this idea doesn’t sound American to me, at all. America is the land of individual rights, not groupthink and group obligation. I thought it was Hillary who advocated that “It Takes a Village.” Evidently John McCain agrees.
What a choice.