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Liberty and the Chains of Virtue

Found this concept quite interesting. Seems applicable both historically and in contemporary situations. As morals decline so does personal freedom.

Quote from Samuel Adams

[ER]

I wasn't able to read the entire article, but I did appreciate this:

Men are qualified for civil liberty in exact proportion to their disposition to put moral chains on their appetites; in proportion as their love of justice is above their rapacity; in proportion as their soundness and sobriety of understanding is above their vanity and presumption; in proportion as they are more disposed to listen to the counsels of the wise and good, in preference to the flattery of knaves. Society cannot exist unless a controlling power upon the will and appetite be placed somewhere, and the less of it there is within, the more there must be without. It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things, that men of intemperate minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their fetters.

In a sense, what he is hinting at is this: A free society thrives best when we love our neighbors as ourselves. In doing so, we will deny ourselves and we'll be reluctant to satisfy our own desires at the expense of someone else.

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The authors apparently were influenced by

The City of God BY ST. AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO

This is a very good book. Ahead of its time or timeless as the case may be. I stumbled upon the site while discussing the book with friends.