I support democracy and I support the treasured American principle for "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." However, I also believe in the role of a benevolent big government to promote this principle in our society. I am aware that most Americans are individualistic and reluctant to trust the power of the government. While acknowledging a need for clear limits to governmental power, I strongly believe that an active government can be a great institution for promoting justice and compassion in our society.
Libertarians argue that the individual's pursuit of self-interest would naturally promote justice in our society. However, the human tendency for greed and competition has also encouraged people's willingness to trample the happiness of others for their own gains.
While the rugged individualism worshipped by many libertarians did promote general economic productivity, it also created an astounding number of economic losers victimized to a class status of poverty and social discrimination. To judge all the lower working class as people with insufficient personal motivation would be a terrible error. In a pure laissez-faire economy, the economic opportunity for prosperity is too often given only to people at the right area, at the right business and at the right moment of economic development. Those who are misfortunate enough to be caught in a downward economic cycle suffer the consequence regardless of any personal effort.
To achieve equal economic opportunity for everyone in society, personal liberty alone is not enough. The government has a moral responsibility to serve as a traffic light, monitoring the market economy and providing safety nets to protect the people from structural imprisonment in poverty. I understand libertarians' criticism of the welfare state, but I also question why it is not in the interest of the society as a whole to ensure every member of our society has access to good education, health care, retirement programs and a clean environment.
To increase the reliability of the market, the government has a responsibility to build a firm infrastructure to support it, such as clean environment, good utilities and safety from crimes and frauds. While I do support free trade, I also believe the government has the responsibility to demand more fair rule of competition from other states, and in turn require the country's corporations to practice ethical labor standards both in and outside the country. Contrary to libertarians' position, what we need is not a "smaller" government, but rather a redirected government that prioritizes and prudently plans its programs.
Society cannot function without a certain uniform standard of public morality. While acknowledging the individuals' right to dissent, I also believe it is the duty for a government to promote basic civic values, such as patriotism, public decency and respect for traditional social hierarchy. I disagree with the statement that we can't legislate morality, for in fact all our public policies are determined by society's perception of what is wrong and right. To promote a healthy society, our government should combat poisonous phenomena that deteriorate our society, such as racism, drug abuse, pornography and domestic violence.
While libertarians may criticize me for violating personal liberty, I believe that being a citizen of a particular country comes with particular responsibilities. A citizen has a civic duty to consider what is in the best interest of all citizens, and show willingness to take his or her share of commitment. Every citizen has a duty to pay their dues (aka taxes) to his or her country, perform useful work for the society and support the country when foreign enemies attack.
Our individual standard of living is connected to the well being of our society, and therefore, for our own self-interest, we have a stake in supporting the government in its quest to promote general good for the whole society.
Jong Eun Lee is a sophomore in the
College of Arts and Sciences and a liberal
columnist for The Eagle.
