Nädala vabadustsitaat
Why is liberty valuable? Because it is an end in itself, because it is what it is. To bring it as a sacrifice to something else is simply to perform an act of human sacrifice.
Alexander Herzen’i tsiteerib A.N.Wilson essees, mis käsitleb peamiselt Isaiah Berlin’i valitud kirjade teist osa ja esseekogumiku Berlinist, kus Isaiah paistab silma mitte just kõige…paremas valguses:
If these letters had not been published, I should have gone on thinking of Berlin as a very jolly diner out who wrote some delightfully well-turned essays about European thinkers and writers. He did for Belinsky and Herzen what Bowra did for Homer and David Cecil did for Lord M: that is, made them accessible to intelligent student audiences and general readers. As it is, the hyperbole of the encomia in The Book of Isaiah, combined with the malicious, snobbish, boastful, cowardly, pompous loghorrhoea of the Letters leave a far less pleasing impression.
Auch!
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“Why is liberty valuable? Because it is an end in itself, because it is what it is.”
Vabadus, kahetsusväärselt valestimõistetud väärtus. Vabadus ei ole “an end in itself”, sest sellise suhtumisega astud varsti kaasinimeste vabaduse peale. Seda tunnistab isegi Ameerika iseseisvusdeklaratsioon, mis on ehk kõige tuntum vabadustülistav dokument.
Esimene lõik ei maini vabadust üldse, vaid ütleb: “…separate and equal station…” Ehk iseseisvus võrdsetel alustel; vabadusest juttu ei ole.
Teine, tõeliselt kuulus lõik: “… 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.”
Seega, võrdsus enne, vabadus pärast. Parem muidugi mõlemad koos, aga mitte mingil juhul vabadus enne.