The Daily News has posted an article by David Boaz, warning libertarians of Giuliani's authoritarian streak.
He argues that it would be extremely dangerous to give Giuliani the power of the presidency after "two terms of relentless Bush efforts to weaken the constitutional checks and balances that safeguard our liberty."
He ends by quoting Barry Goldwater, saying that the cause of Republicanism is to resist concentrations of power.
This is a very interesting quote to me, and seems to throw a light on a blind spot among Republicans, conservatives, and libertarians alike.
All three groups live in fear, as do liberals, of uncontrolled governmental power. They worry about what the government might do, how it might meddle in our lives, how it might invade our privacy or limit our freedoms.
It seems to me that they are obviously right to fear these things generally—even though I would disagree with some of their specific concerns. But it also seems to me that they limit this fear in odd ways.
Why is the concentration of power in government to be resisted so completely, but the concentration of power in large corporations to be ignored, or even admired. Sure, Republicans had some concerns about specific cases—Enron, for example—but nothing like the programmatic concern they have when the concentration occurs in government.
This seems odd, since power pooled in the government is, at least, accountable to democratic process, while power pooled in a corporation is rarely accountable in any effective way to government, consumers, or, in many cases, even shareholders.
Part of the reason for this blindness on the part of conservatives seems to be an inability to see, clearly and consistently, that money is a form of power.
The obvious conclusion that fact leads to, in the light of Goldwater's declaration, is that Republicans should consistently resist the pooling of wealth—especially in the private sphere.
It certainly seems like a sensible conclusion to me.
And, now that I've pointed it out, I'm sure that Republicans everywhere will agree.
At least, that's what I think today.
