When I was doing research on the meanings of the words liberal and conservative the other day, I was struck by the content in a wikipedia article on the topic of social and political ideologies.
I have a somewhat personal stake in this beyond the obvious: I am the great-great (add several more greats) grandnephew of John Locke, the famous philosopher. (At least, my uncle Rich said so, and he was the quartermaster for the D-Day invasion, so I tend to believe things he said.)
Anyway, after 11 or 12 generations, the gene pool has been sufficiently diluted that I can’t claim to have much direct connection to John Locke, but as we have just celebrated America’s birthday, I wonder how many people understand how John Locke’s ideologies and theories of “contract government” led to the creation of the world’s first democracy. I mean, up until 1780 or so, every major government was run by a king. There was even talk after the Revolutionary war of making George Washington king, or perhaps importing one from Europe (that’s one of the reasons why we require the president to be native born citizen… to cut down the possibilities of some Hapsburg nephew getting the gig). The idea that a government should derive its power, not from the divine right of kings, but instead from a mandate from the people . . . quite the revolutionary idea.
Anyway, I digress. Again, the thing about this article on political ideologies really impressed me… and somewhat depressed me… because I realized there were people in previous generations who actually thought about “the big picture.” They thought about envisioning a better society, and it was a hot topic for discussion. And I’m really having trouble finding any of that going on in our contemporary society.
Pardon my cynicism, but I watch the news, and it just seems like everybody’s scuffling to get a bigger piece of the existing pie for themselves. It’s like there’s a presumption that this is the best of all possible worlds, and the only improvement that is possible or necessary is more funding for my particular industry or pet project. This philosophical stagnation is not helped by the fact that we are constantly being told how great and free we are, without any specifics.
Where is the John Locke of our generation? Who is promulgating a vision for a better society? I’m looking around, and I just don’t see it.
© Justin Locke
