August 13, 2007, on this blog: Cossacks and Prairie Muffins
Viktor Vasilyevich’s attitude isn’t all that different from that of our old friends the Prairie Muffins or of Concerned Women for America (run by Mrs. Tim LaHaye).
The problem with all such groups is that their embrace of hierarchy is unable to tolerate freedom for others. In order for the world to be the way they want it to be, the firm hand they desire has to hold sway over everyone. I suppose, from their point of view, the same could be said of those of us who favor freedom, rights and democracy.
What right do we have, they ask, to impose liberty and dignity on them when that’s not what they want? That’s how they’d like to frame the question, although I’m not sure any sense can be made of it. It’s a bit like the “You don’t tolerate my intolerance” nonsense — an ouroboros swallowing its own tail. And it’s not a harmless bit of nonsense, since the freedom from freedom they insist on requires others to join them in servitude.
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