Glenn Reynolds links to an article about the protesters in Zuccotti Park. It’s an interesting read.
Freedom is a tough concept. Clearly, these people think that they themselves should be free to do whatever they wish on an individual basis. But they fail to recognize that “freedom” doesn’t just mean “freedom for me.” It’s also “freedom for thee.” So who really has the “right” to tell the drummers to stop drumming? Or the “authority” to collect a “tax” from the tips the drummers bring in? Who can setup a tent and where?
You can sense the cognitive dissonance of the protesters as they campaign to overthrow government, whilst they self-organize to try and maintain and enforce order on themselves to keep the protests going. The lessons are there to be learned if the protesters weren’t so ideologically blinkered.
Turns out, maintaining a civil society isn’t so easy. Who knew?