Fire Burns the Whole Community

Last night's story about the Tennessee family who lost their home to fire for not paying a $75 fee exposes a raw truth about some of the shouters. If you don't pay (they say) you shouldn't be carried by the rest of us. How much sympathy will there be for Mr. Cranik from the promoters of this radically individualistic idea.

Our republican experiment is at its essence communitarian. Hobbes and Locke laid down the foundation by observing that individuals give up some of their freedom to a government. In return, they get stability and safety. The government is limited and cannot infringe on natural rights and freedoms. But, a community is formed, a community of equals in essential rights if not equal in economic means.

So our neighbor's home is on fire. We put out the flames because (1) he is our neighbor and a member of the community, (2) his blazing home can ignite his paying neighbors, and (3) the fire department is a service all should be able to expect in a civilized society. We tried the fee for service fire service approach and it invited abuse (Crassus in ancient Rome) and whole sections of cities (London, New York, Chicago) burned as a result.

I wonder if Mr. Cranik tracks the use by others of services like the FAA, FDA, interstate highway system, public water supply, electric grid, etc etc which his taxes have gone to support. Our founders did not intend for us a society of isolated individuals living a life that is "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short". Thirteen disparate colonies had banded together to fight their way to independence. Separately, they would have failed. The Constitution was a communitarian exercise. By adding the Bill of Rights, our founders intended to keep government (Hobbes' Leviathan) from taking away natural liberties. The most essential are life, liberty and property - including Mr. Cranik's home.

Those who would create a nation of isolated, completely self-interested individuals do not want to reside in the nation our founders created, or intended. They must have some other country in mind.