Correcting the Corrections
Jason Kuznicki on Feb 26th 2008
“Liberty is a Gift from God himself, nor can they alienate the same by Consent, though possibly they may forfeit it by Crimes.”
It’s a noteworthy sentence from Cato’s Letters, the series of classical liberal essays for which the Cato Institute is named. But place this sentence into Microsoft Word, and the software recommends the following not inconsequential change:
“Liberty is not a Gift from God himself, nor can they alienate the same by Consent, though possibly they may forfeit it by Crimes.”
Microsoft: enemy of liberty?
Filed in The Bookshelf
Microsoft Word can automatically correct many common mistakes, nor is it reasonable to expect it to correct flawed sentences so grammatically tortured as your Cato quote.
It’s all about the “nor” following the comma. “Liberty is a gift from God” raises no objection from our software overlords.
What does that correction have to do with god?
The omnipotent have freedom to do as they please … and thus don’t need the liberty mere mortals desire.
Liberty is a human affair … it is not a gift, it cannot be given. It is a possession that must be earned and jealously defended, or others will keep/take it from you.
Yes, Ben. I’m beginning to question our Founding Fathers and their “enlightened reason,” just a wee bit. I always assumed they were right, given how well their experiment went (which, by objective standards, despite all the problems, was pretty good for a pretty long time).
I still believe we were “created equal” which, cryptically enough, is 18th century language that means we’re important as individuals before the Judge of the Universe. Old habits are hard to break.
But the part about being “endowed” and our rights being “inalienable,” doesn’t seem to comport with the facts.
People die for stupid generals that should be shot before that military genius leads them to slaughter. They put up with governments that oppress them, when all they’d need to do is stand up and say, “Enough; I’ve had it.”
Humanity is, apparently and in general, preferably endowed to march to their own death and carry large burdens — both as a result of alienating their basic “rights.”
Perhaps I’m wrong. I’m still working this out in my mind.
Jim,
I have no doubt about the Founders enlightened reason. It was profound, and we, as well as the world, should be grateful for the risks they took to launch their great experiment.
What I question it the enlightened reason of our contemporary leaders … but I expect that it the nature of politics. Politicians is not a game that fosters integrity in its participants :-(