Daniel Deudney on Bloggingheads

Here is an interesting conversation about Daniel Deudney’s new book, Bounding Power.

Here are a few thoughts I had never thought to think:

1.  America is in part designed by the founders to avoid the extremes of anarchy and hierarchy; and was a conscious project to not merely recreate the centralized power structures of Europe. 

2.  By extension, America continues a Western dialogue that stretches all the way back to the Greeks.   A dialogue that has proposed the basic rights to life and right to subsistence that are taken for granted in our daily lives.

3.  Present day American liberal internationalism can be redirected back to the founding principles and political traditions of our country.  Liberals can do the work they need to do here in order to do it everywhere.

4.  Libertarians should get back to the basic right of freedom from violence.

Fascinating and very well done. 

Has anyone ever read the Republic, by Plato?  Oh, so grim, and oh so accurate.  

Addition:  Are there dangers of idealism/German idealism that come with a Kantian influence:  From The Internet Encyclopedia Of Knowledge: Immanuel Kant And Utilitarianism.

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