Allan Erickson, on his "Goodness World Life Blog," recently posted a letter written shortly after the 2008 presidential election by Dr. Anne Wortham, an associate professor of sociology at Illinois State University.
Read Dr. Wortham's letter here: http://allanerickson.wordpress.com/2009/08/28/two-black-scholars-speak-to-our-times/
This blog post also includes the text of a speech by Justice Janice Rogers Brown given to the Federalist Society at the University of Chicago back in 2000. Also included are links to relevant articles by columnists Thomas Sowell, Walter Williams, and Larry Elder.
Here's a quote from Justice Brown to whet your interest:
"Writing 50 years ago, F.A. Hayek warned us that a centrally planned economy is 'The Road to Serfdom.' He was right, of course; but the intervening years have shown us that there are many other roads to serfdom. In fact, it now appears that human nature is so constituted that, as in the days of empire, all roads led to Rome; in the heyday of liberal democracy, all roads lead to slavery. And we no longer find slavery abhorrent. We embrace it. We demand more. Big government is not just the opiate of the masses. It is the opiate. The drug of choice for multinational corporations and single moms; for regulated industries and rugged Midwestern farmers and militant senior citizens.It is my thesis today that the sheer tenacity of the collectivist impulse - whether you call it socialism or communism or altruism - has changed not only the meaning of our words, but the meaning of the Constitution, and the character of our people."
Here's a quote from Dr. Sowell regarding the government-based health-care/medical insurance debate:
"Politicians are already one of the main reasons why medical insurance is so expensive. Insurance is designed to cover risks but politicians are in the business of distributing largesse. Nothing is easier for politicians than to mandate things that insurance companies must cover, without the slightest regard for how such additional coverage will raise the cost of insurance.If insurance covered only those things that most people are most concerned about-- the high cost of a major medical expense-- the price would be much lower than it is today, with politicians piling on mandate after mandate."
You can find the Thomas Sowell archives here, the Walter Williams archives here, and the Larry Elder archives here. I commend them to your reading if you would understand more of the direction in which our country seems headed.
