Posted by
Rogue Historian on Wednesday, March 14, 2007 2:12:14 AM
Civil rights used to have meaning. Equal protection used to mean "before the government." As is often pointed out by libertarians, the Constitution is prohibitive. Ours is a government of enumerated powers. The problem with this equation is that it wasn't balanced. Even after the Civil War, conservatives maintained the position that the Federal Government hadn't the privilege, let alone the duty, of interfering with Jim Crow. It was up to the states- in Holmes's germane language- to experiment. Originally, then, the Civil Rights movement focused on getting the national government involved in what had been the purview of states. This necessitated extending the Commerce Power to include private action. This was, perhaps, the greatest achievment of the Civil Rights Era.
Now, however, rights have become wrongs. Protecting the rights of minorities has been equated with creating a perfectly tolerant society. This means that the government is legally required to stop at nothing to make sure that minorities are shielded from prejudice. This effort includes reshaping human conscience. Human beings are no longer afforded the luxury of stupidity. Every act that could conceivably construed as intolerant must be both prevented- through mind control- and vehemently prosecuted.
It is frightening to consider that America's story- which began among men who took exception with a tax on tea- should end with their progeny's ideological capitulation. Don't think there weren't among the founder's a great many disagreements on matters of principle. Uniformity of thought is the death knell of liberty. Welcome to the United Minds of America.