Works for meBy Tom Smith
A
pope who likes Acton, Madison and de Tocqueville. Works for me.
One of Cardinal Ratzinger's central, and most misunderstood, notions is his conception of liberty, and he is very jealous in thinking deeply about it, pointing often to Tocqueville. He is a strong foe of socialism, statism and authoritarianism, but he also worries that democracy, despite its great promise, is exceedingly vulnerable to the tyranny of the majority, to "the new soft despotism" of the all-mothering state, and to the common belief that liberty means doing whatever you please. Following Lord Acton and James Madison, Cardinal Ratzinger has written of the need of humans to practice self-government over their passions in private life.Also interesting.
This just about sums it up.
Pretty good
summary of the tedious left view.
posted by thomas at 4/20/2005 08:18:00 AM
