While all political systems are collectivist in nature, there was at least a time when Republicans could be counted upon – even as they expanded the powers of the state – to speak in individualistic, anti-collectivist words. Apart from a few like Ron Paul, that is no longer the case. John McCain – over whom most Republicans drool, albeit more like the reflexive excretions of drunks than the emotionally committed – gave an unfocused prognostication of what life would be like after his hypothetical first term as president. The core of his vision was straight out of the collectivist mindset of Bill Buckley, built around his ideal of “national service.” “True happiness,” McCain intoned, “can only be found by serving causes greater than self-interest,” and “Americans . . . are sick of the politics of selfishness.”
I wonder if this babbling embodiment of balloon-juice can be taken at his word, and be persuaded to put aside his personal “politics of selfishness” that he visualizes will put him atop the collapsing throne of autocratic power in the District of Collectivism? To paraphrase Lysander Spooner, perhaps Mr. McCain might see the “national service” he could perform by ending his campaign, and returning to Arizona, there to content himself with the exercise of only so much power as nature has given to him in common with the rest of mankind.
