especially when the régime is in such large measure merely the agent of a dominant economic class in its struggle to keep and extend the gains it has amassed at the expense of genuine social order, unity, and development
makes me think about how system of convict labor or sharecropping sought to replicate systems similar to slavery after the Civil War to maintain economic and social power
Sometimes whole communities seem to be°domi-nated dominated by custom, and changes are produced only by irruptions and invasions from outside
Makes me think of the primary source of the women who petitioned against suffrage because they wanted to maintain traditional roles. The passage of the 19th amendment likely "interrupted" the "domination of customs" within their community.
But change is also with us and°de-mands demands the constant remaking of old habits and old ways of°think-ing, thinking, desiring and acting
reform!
The direct impact of liberty always has to do with some class or group that is suffering in a special way from some form of constraint exercised by the°distri-bution distribution of powers that exists in contemporary society
idea that there will always be a dominant group/ideology in power that will cause the need for liberal ideas (ex. equality before the law)
interest of°individu-als individuals and parties in capturing and retaining office and power, with that exercised by the propaganda of publicity agents and that of organized pressure groups
What might Dewey think of the use of social media and marketing in today's world? Makes me think of the Harris campaign utilizing "brat" and Gen-Z trends or even the Trump campaign bringing influencers like Bryce Hall onstage at rallies
By this statement, I mean that although the conclusions of the social disciplines were about man, they were treated as if they were of the same nature as the conclusions of physical science about remote galaxies of stars
again relates to AY Ch 16 and mention of how sociologist Herbert Spencer was the one to popularize Darwin ideas in application to society rather than science
It was rather a political weapon devised in the interest of breaking down the rigidity of dogmas and of institutions that had lost their°rele-vancy. relevancy
referencing American/French revolution, consent of the governed
It suggests—and the context bears out the suggestion—that social arrangements and institutions were thought of as things that operate from without, not entering in any significant way into the internal make-up and growth of individuals
operated on assumption that institutions like school, church, media (etc) didn't impact individualism
asserting that inequality of fortune and economic status is the "natural" and justifiable°con-sequence consequence of the free play of these inherent differences
reminds me of those who used Darwinist principles/survival of the fittest to justify inequality
their failure to grasp the historic position of the interpretation of liberty they put forth served later to solidify a social régime that was a chief obstacle to attainment of the ends they professed
brings into question: has liberal idea of "free economy" limited other liberal idea of "individual liberty" for everyone?
Struggle for raw°mate-rials materials and markets in backward countries, combined with foreign financial control of their domestic industrial development, has been accompanied by all kinds of devices to prevent access of other advanced nations to the national market-place
discussing how liberalism has impacted economic control of countries like the US (westernized) + their influence over foreign markets in low and middle-income countries
the necessity of liberty for individuals which they proclaimed will require social control of economic forces in the interest of the great mass of individuals
makes me think of AY Ch 16 & discussion about ever growing wealth gap between capitalists and working class, esp before Sherman Act/"Trust-busting"
can come about in but one way, the way of private economic enterprise
the way liberalism manifested in real world (not Mill's "intellectual abstractions") was focused primarily on economic liberty
they had no idea of historic relativity, either in general or in its application to themselves.
again relates to conservative skepticism of ideas not based in history/looking towards utopian future
undercut the appeal to origin,°prece-dent precedent and past history by which the opponents of social change
Relating to our conversations in readings/class about how conservatism often looks to history and tradition
sacrosanct
inviolable/not to be challenged
We see now that the vote and the ballot-box do not make the voter free from even external pressure
Voter disenfranchisement, literacy tests, poll taxes, etc. as examples of how gov implementation of suffrage didn't translate to universal voting rights
but imbuing the minds of individuals with the spirit of reasonableness
Makes me think of hegemony, in which dominant ideologies/groups have power over others, but often through consent of "subordinate" groups
think it a fair paraphrase to say that he found himself faced with only intellectual abstractions
struggled to visualize how tenants of liberalism could exist in world.
uncertainty in belief and purpose are powerful factors in°generat-ing generating dogmatic faiths that are profoundly hostile to everything to which liberalism in any possible formulation is devoted.
Liberal beliefs were considered inadequate to the extent that other beliefs were hostile and rigidly against liberalism in any form
struggle of early liberals to°emanci-pate emancipate individuals from restrictions imposed upon them by the°in-herited inherited type of social organization
I wonder if Dewey was considering early abolitionist movements in the US and the struggle that arose in "social organization" when it came to considering emancipated African Americans as citizens