Question From A Student

Dervish kitchen:


A student recently sent me the following email:

Dear professor,

I know it's irrelevant to the class. I just have a question that I am really curious about. Between dictatorship and poverty or insecurity, which should we fear more? Does an overall noble intent neutralize the negative consequences that possibly come after the control required to implement this intent? I would really appreciate it if you can tell me your personal opinion about it. Thank you very much.

I wrote the following response (edited to protect her privacy):

Personally, I am what is known as a “Left Libertarian,” which means that I hold two competing political values in tension: individual liberty and collective welfare. In the United States, since the so-called “Reagan revolution” of the 1980’s, the ruling elite have chosen individual liberty (which entails, for them, unlimited wealth acquisition) over the commonwealth. As I say, I also value individual liberty, but I am willing to sacrifice some of my own individual liberty and personal wealth if it will guarantee that my neighbor does not have to scrounge for his dinner out of a garbage dumpster or risk being raped or freezing to death at night because she is forced to sleep under a bridge.

But your question is about intent. In my view, noble intent does not neutralize negative effects—negative effects have to be documented and corrected for. But nothing justifies ignoble intent, and nothing justifies negligence. It is remarkable to me that in the country which prides itself on individual liberty above all else that our political discourse (which is either completely staged and carefully managed for professional politicians or consists of uninformed talking heads shouting at each other on youtube, talk radio, t.v., or twitter) no longer takes seriously the possibility that government could play a constructive role in the alleviation of human suffering. The notion that that role belongs entirely to the private sector is one that has become current in the U.S. in my lifetime and it has been made current by people who seem to be ignorant of the fact that government had to take over this role in the early part of the 20th century because the private sector had shown itself incapable of addressing the basic needs (food, clothing, shelter) of the American people.

Christian charity (or Muslim charity for that matter) is a noble idea, but it is worthless if it is not practiced.

I would add that the great social democracies of Europe and Scandinavia have demonstrated what a society that takes seriously government’s role in the alleviation of human suffering can accomplish. I do not imagine for a moment that any of these countries are utopias. In Europe, for example, fascism is once again on the rise. The project of living together in a cohesive and harmonious community is not one that is ever fully realized—it is always a work in progress.

What is most important to me is that we do not limit our options in this work by telling stories to ourselves about ourselves that are untrue. Deluding ourselves about our actual circumstances cannot lead to happy results. The United States is a country that, despite its many blessings, is riven by racism, sexism, homophobia, Islamophobia, and huge disparities of wealth that, were he alive to see them, would make Jesus weep. But that’s not the story we tell ourselves about ourselves, and the gap between our stories and our actual lives is one, in my opinion, that we should not only mind but take steps to close. This is why I left the practice of law to teach college: to alert the rising generation to the very real problems that plague us in the United States and also to the pseudo-problems (like judges in U.S. courts somehow applying “Shari’ah” in their decisions) which distract us from our very real difficulties (most of which are, in my view, self-inflicted wounds). I’ve been at this now since 2001 and, to be honest, I consider it a losing battle. But it’s my battle, the one I have dedicated my working life to fighting, and I will fight it so long as I am able.