Rishon Rishon

A forgotten right of individuals

Individualism: it is often heralded, by both friends and foes, as the essential American value, its contribution to the world, and the bedrock of US freedom, justice, and liberty. To which is contrasted collectivism: to America's friends, the evil excuse for tyranny, to its foes, a kinder, gentler way.

But this is a false dichotomy, one which never occurred to the founders of the United States, nor the writers of its Constitution. To them, the enemy was aristocracy, and man's desire to rule over his fellow. And an essential freedom was the freedom to associate in a collective. Indeed, one of the themes of early American settlement, continuing for several hundred years - long past its declaration of independence, was the desire of groups of people to break away from the old order, and to establish a more perfect society along new lines of governance, ideology, or belief.

It is a shame that this wellspring of ferment and diversity has dried up, squeezed between big government and the individual. It needn't be that way. True, the wide open, under-populated spaces have disappeared, so that it is no longer possible for a group to physically break away, and the complexity of our economy has made it impractical, even if it were possible. Nevertheless, it is possible to do much. But it would mean that the government would have to give up some of its monopoly rights.

Defense, trade, welfare, unemployment: I see no practical way to decentralize these things. But none of these are central to the collective. The binding forces of the collective: education, ideology, art, are well suited to decentralization. Amritas often talks about the Akaka bill: "The purpose is to protect over 160 race-based programs under court challenge because of a Supreme Court decision." I certainly disagree with granting one group of people special rights. On the other hand, I deeply sympathize with the desire of native Hawaiians to preserve their culture, and I think it's a crime for the government to impose its values on their children through the imposition of a $10,000-per-child fine (private school tuition) for non-compliance. Why not grant cultural rights to all Americans? Why not give all Americans the right to educate their children according to their heritage, values, and ideology? Why not give all Americans the right to support their cultural institutions, their arts and universities, as they see fit? Hawaiians aren't the only people who want to preserve their culture. Everybody has a culture!

It is our right, as individuals, to associate in collectives.