I forget where the quote is from, maybe Jakarta Method? But it talks about how reactionary types view freedom as "the right of powerful men to do as they please, even to hurt others."

[–] BanSwitch2Buyers@hexbear.net 29 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I've heard someone on here or left-twittersphere say reactionaries view the law as a constraining of others but a freeing of themselves, which overlaps with your quote. I definitely think there's something to it.

[–] Belly_Beanis@hexbear.net 25 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Wilhoit’s Law:

Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.

-Frank Wilhoit (the composer, not the Ameican history scholar)

^(^No ^seriously ^please ^stop ^misattributing ^this ^quote ^to ^the ^wrong ^Frank ^Wilhoit. ^I ^know ^it's ^odd ^that ^a ^musician ^and ^not ^a ^historian ^came ^up ^with ^such ^an ^apt ^description)

[–] miz@hexbear.net 14 points 1 day ago (1 children)

^superscript^ ^requires^ ^a^ ^caret^ ^on^ ^both^ ^ends^ ^of^ ^a^ ^word^

[–] Belly_Beanis@hexbear.net 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Oh weird. It's not showing up like that in the app I'm using. 🤔

[–] miz@hexbear.net 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

hmm, very interesting... which app is it, for any future coder that investigates

[–] Belly_Beanis@hexbear.net 2 points 1 day ago

Sync. The dev abandoned it a long time ago, but it still works and has the ability to switch accounts with the push of a button or browse anonymously. This was more useful when Bureaucrat was still operational.

[–] tripartitegraph@hexbear.net 12 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Domenico Losurdo really explores this contradiction in Liberalism: A Counter-history. All the big liberal thinkers in the 18th and 19th century loved to preach about “freedom” and “liberty” and whatnot, while defending the necessity of chattel slavery.
Really interesting read, would highly recommend.

[–] BanSwitch2Buyers@hexbear.net 6 points 1 day ago

I just finished reading his Stalin book so maybe I'll read that one soon.

[–] BeamBrain@hexbear.net 8 points 1 day ago

Not the quote you're thinking of, but Lenin said something similar:

Freedom in capitalist society always remains about the same as it was in ancient Greek republics: Freedom for slave owners.

[–] marxisthayaca@hexbear.net 12 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Well yeah, that’s Barry Obama’s step dad; who shows up in Jakarta Method.