By: kafantaris

kafantaris — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 05:07:41 +0000

The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution itself are both utopian, and both over 200 years old. But unlike other utopias, the one our forefathers embraced works.
It has an ingenious mechanism to revitalize its institutions: Freedom of speech.
As John Stuart Mill explained, when a society allows its citizens to question its government, its values and its most sacred beliefs, the examination finds errors and things for improvement.
But even when no correction at all is needed, the challenge in itself works miracles — it forces us to defend them.
If things prove fine after such “stress test,” we learn that we are on the right track. Merely knowing this wipes away uncertainty and replaces it with life and vigor.
Such is the hidden benefit of open debate — and the reason why institutions elsewhere stagnate and die.
And no one rushes to save them because people have forgotten long before why they are there in the first place. This is the grave danger John Mill warned us about.
The fathers of this country gave heed to his words.
Perhaps the fathers of new democracies should do the same.

Comments on: Obama Delivers Speech to United Nations General Assembly

By: kafantaris