Sunday, August 6, 2017

George Washington Suggested Licentiousness is Different than Liberty

 What would George Washington think of today's libertarianism, which holds that government should not restrict prostitution, pornography or drug usage? I do not know, but I found three quotes that make me wonder:
   "Discriminate the spirit of liberty from that of licentiousness."
   "Licentiousness may not be substituted for liberty."
   "Arbitrary power is most easily established on the ruins of liberty abused to licentiousness."
   Licentiousness is unrestrained immorality and the ignoring of legal restraints. Washington often wrote about the need to put down the Whiskey Rebellion, which was an uprising against an alcohol tax. When he used the word "licentiousness," did he view the uprising, itself and alone, as licentiousness? Or do the above quotes refer to unrestrained immorality as we think of it today, applying to such things as prostitution, etc.?
(Blog originally post Nov. 14, 2012)

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