As I've mentioned before, I really like William James notion of that each thinker comes with an odd personal flavour: that pre-rational bundle of preferences that urges him to hop on whatever logic-train seems to be already heading in his general direction.
Something Kevin said in a recent comment has forced me to face another of these. I am quite certain that the United States is wealthier than France and England or even Canada for that matter. But Kevin is quite right that there are places in the USA where you can see appalling squalor. I have an economic argument in response to that but it seems to me that there is something deeper underneath it; there is a belief about life that was formed sometime in early childhood.
If I had to put it in words, I'd put it this way: Any notion of freedom that is worthy of the word will include a healthy allowance for failure. It's not just that freedom must include the freedom to fall on your face (although that would be a good start), it's that freedom isn't compatible with our efforts to compensate for the inequality and unfairness of life. Some people can do most things better than most people and there will always be some people who, although they do everything right, will fail because the odds are against them. Yes, there will be some times when it makes sense to compensate for the vicissitudes of life but we must be aware that every such effort takes away from our freedom.
I started developing this belief somewhere in childhood while watching adults try and make everything fair and nice for all the kids. By grade seven, it was firmly entrenched.
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