Men are born free and sheep are born carnivorous
The forcing of freedom on others may or may not have begun with the French Revolution. But it’s been going on ever since. George Bush made it the highlight of his presidency and never seemed to understand that it couldn’t be done.
Why, he would say to himself, doesn’t everyone want to be free? Well no, not everyone does want to be free. We just saw the truth of this again in Iran, when the people’s bonds were loosened a bit, but only to be tightened again, almost without their opposition, just a few days later.
Rousseau’s statement, that “Man is born free, but everywhere is found enslaved and in chains” is well known. Not so well known is this statement by the French writer and diplomat, Joseph de Maistre, who unlike Rousseau lived to experience the Revolution:
“It would be equally correct [Jean-Jacques] to say that sheep are born carnivorous and everywhere eat grass.”
