http://reason.com/blog/show/131267.html
With Obama's quick action to reverse several controversial Bush legacies, libertarian magazine Reason points out who is truly responsible for Guantanamo Bay: Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. Teddy Roosevelt appointed Holmes to the Supreme Court after getting his promise about foreigners' constitutional rights. The article states, "He dutifully voted with the majority in the so-called Insular Cases, which held, for example that the right to a jury trial did not extend to Filipinos or Hawaiians." This cleared the way for foreign prisons like Guantanamo.
Though the insular cases were influenced by his debt to Roosevelt, Holmes' pragmatist beliefs led to opinions that were difficult to place in any economic or political ideology. Indeed, his judgments can only truly be understood through the lens of pragmatism.
The article continues with vitriol against Holmes, specifically with Lochner v. New York where Holmes sides with populist interests rather than free market beliefs, and his support of forced invalid sterilization which is opposed on grounds of big brother government.
The article highlights an interesting link between Holmes and our current world, though one doesn't have to look hard to find such links.
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ReplyDeleteReading this article about Holmes and the governmental abuse of privilege to carry out the interests of those in office reminded me of something Nietzsche said, I think in Zarathustra. It was about how the ubermensch need not follow his own law since he was the one who created it. I think he might have even used Jesus as an example of the ubermensch who, potentially, didn't have to obey his own teachings since he was superior to the common man and didn't need them whereas his weaker followers did.
ReplyDeleteThis model of thought seems to be prevalent in third-world dictatorships where the ruling class is visibly "superior" to the ethnic population, thus making this kind of a "separatist" ideology more plausible to enforce. Countries with histories of colonization come to mind. Too bad for them; they have a long way to go. (Not to be flippant or anything.)
also, my first comment that i deleted was really dumb; it was something like "ha ha ha!!!" in response to Holmes's quote, "Three generations of imbeciles are enough," which was in regards to eugenics and the idea of sterilizing "imbeciles."
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