Defining Freedom Up: The Constitution and National Character

In the beginning, Americans got it right. They did not fall for the false choice between the comfort of the least and the potential of the best, sometimes posed as a choice between the common good and individualism. Instead, the Founders envisioned a productive people who were at the same time a caring people. They identified social progress with realizing the potential of the best. More recently, social progress tends to be identified with the comfort of the least, which is a dumbing down of the idea of freedom.