Society only progresses to the degree that its members progress, and the only means a man has to measure his progress is to consider the nature of his internal governance, his conscience. He must consider that which causes him to feel pleasure and that which causes him to feel pain, that which causes him to feel pride and that which causes him to feel guilt, that which causes him joy and that which causes him sadness.
External regulation cannot induce progress.
-Branden Espinoza
(H/T: Cafe Hayek)
For the over ten years that GraniteGrok has been open I’ve been writing about this topic – internal vs external governance. The Left believes only in the latter and that their definition of “self-governance” only applies to the Collective; we get to elect our leaders and they will govern us (and in many cases, I would make the case that “govern” in their view is more akin to “ruled” than not). They believe that laws passed will CREATE the moral atmosphere that will “elevate” or “enlighten” the population to evolve them to the standard they expect us to meet.
Who made them God simply for winning an election? And where did their notion that creating larger and larger legal Clubs (with which to use on and upon us) will accomplish that?
For me, self-governance truly is defined as internal governance – the age old illustration of the angel or devil on your shoulders. Espinoza is right – TRUE governance can only come from inside you.
