Rules of Evidence

This post was part of a discussion on free markets vs. communism.

Jefferson Babeuf

You raise an important point when you talk about Keith Joseph's argument that they needed more bankruptcies and more millionaires. This really all comes down to the definition of equality. In the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson wrote:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.—

In this meaning of equality, equality is a right of birth. We start out equal. We do not have kings and classes that are presumed better because of the status of their birth. All people have the right to pursue happiness, but there is no guarantee of happiness. These rights are inherent in the individual and not the group to whom the individual is born. http://markbarnes.us/blog%202-5-05.htm

However, this definition of equality took a bad turn in the French Revolution. Babeuf and the Conspiracy of Equals rejected the American idea of equality for an outcome based definition of equality. Equality meant no difference in outcomes.

Society must be made to operate in such a way that it eradicates once and for all the desire of a man to become richer, or wiser, or more powerful than others.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois-No%C3%ABl_Babeuf

The problem is that to guarantee outcomes among people who are not identically gifted, capable or motivated has historically meant the application of force by government in order to ensure equal results. In communism's 70 plus year history, its belief in the state's right to cause equality in outcomes cost 100 million lives around the world. http://markbarnes.us/blog%209-10-05.htm

		June 9, 2007 *Equality - When a Definition Makes a World of Difference*
	This post was part of a discussion on free markets vs. communism. *Jefferson Babeuf* You raise an important point when you talk about Keith Joseph's argument that they needed more bankruptcies and more millionaires. This really all comes down to the definition of equality. In the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson wrote: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.— In this meaning of equality, equality is a right of birth. We start out equal. We do not have kings and classes that are presumed better because of the status of their birth. All people have the right to pursue happiness, but there is no guarantee of happiness. These rights are inherent in the individual and not the group to whom the individual is born. http://markbarnes.us/blog%202-5-05.htm However, this definition of equality took a bad turn in the French Revolution. Babeuf and the Conspiracy of Equals rejected the American idea of equality for an outcome based definition of equality. Equality meant no difference in outcomes. Society must be made to operate in such a way that it eradicates once and for all the desire of a man to become richer, or wiser, or more powerful than others. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois-No%C3%ABl_Babeuf The problem is that to guarantee outcomes among people who are not identically gifted, capable or motivated has historically meant the application of force by government in order to ensure equal results. In communism's 70 plus year history, its belief in the state's right to cause equality in outcomes cost 100 million lives around the world. http://markbarnes.us/blog%209-10-05.htm