“To take from one, because it is thought his own industry and that of his fathers has acquired too much, in order to spare to others, who, or whose fathers, have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association, the guarantee to everyone the free exercise of his industry and the fruits acquired by it." --Thomas Jefferson
Sounds right to me. Was President Jefferson a Democrat, Republican, Progressive or Libertarian? Certainly not a Socialist!
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But what portion of his acquisition was a result not of his industry or skill, but the labor of others, and the advantages of his birth? Can we assume a level playing field?
In 1753, Livingston--a lawyer who led the New Jersey militia during the American Revolution and who became the state's first governor--masterfully articulated the 18th-century ideal of patriotism in a series of essays called The Independent Reflector. He wrote:
"He is a Patriot who prefers the Happiness of the Whole, to his own private Advantage. . . . He is a Patriot, the ruling Object of whose Ambition, is the public Welfare: whose Zeal, chastised by Reflection, is calm, steady and undaunted . . . Whom no partial Ties can prevail on to act traitorously to the Community, and sacrifice the Interest of the Whole to that of a Part."
Just about everyone today defines patriotism as "love of country." But for Livingston:
"Merely to love the Public, to wish it well, to feel for it, in all its Vicissitudes, is not sufficient. . . . To exemplify our Love for the Public, as far as our Ability and Sphere of Action will extend, is true Patriotism. . . . I go still farther. Whoever is unstudious of the public Emolument, who denies it a Share of his thinking Hours, and refuses to exert his Head, his Heart, and his Hands in its Behalf, is a Foe to Society."
Love without action, says Livingston, isn't enough. Patriotism requires service--love and labor. Mental labor, too. Serving the common good requires deliberation, "thinking Hours" that lead to constructive efforts as opposed to knee-jerk responses. The patriot's zeal is "chastised by reflection."
Disagreements are allowed. The "common good" is no monolithic truth. It is a constant negotiation among the different and often conflicting ideas of the community. Livingston even points to a patriotism of protest, noting that when the country's leaders go wrong, the patriot "mourns for their Vices, and exerts his Abilities to work a Reformation."
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