I’m also a first-time poster at this site. And I appreciate all the commentators opinions as mostly astute.

Hopefully, this discussion will continue – it’s far too important… to not continue.

I see communitarianism as the unifying principles being employed by both major political parties to justify the elites – especially the various industrial cartels with shared economic interests – solidifying their power positions in society. By institutionalizing themselves as being advocates of this anti-individualist philosophy they hope to become our trusted masters.

And I agree with Niki: The American people are largely ignorant of this long-time development because this information has been deliberately kept secretive. For them to be even minimally informed would be to awaken them to all the confusing socio-political and economic developments of our time.

This set of facts alone, supported as it is from numerous documents in the public record, is one which can help Ron Paul get elected. The American people will see how this elitist agenda coming from a top-down collectivist perspective is intended to move us away from personal liberties… to the loss of our individual civil rights… not to mention, the eventual loss of American sovereignty.

One need only look at the owners of the Fed, the make-up of the CFR, etcetera to see how this has been playing out since the inception of our country. We are always in danger of becoming enslaved – whether willfully or unwillfully, individually or collectively. And it’s always, it seems, the credentialed, professional, and business elitists who are on board with these treasonous elements… because those so disposed mutually collude for their own self-importance and personal enrichment.

What drives this war-mongering foreign policy we have today coming out of Washington is the dream of all totalitarians – to be a part of the elite master class (1%), as opposed to the class of the rest of us (99%), plain and simple.

As it concerns one-world totalitarianism, nothing in our lives is as dangerous; for communitarianism is indeed… for US… the road to serfdom.

Communitarianism is the final merger between all political parties, and all the world’s religions. The communitarians are posing themselves as the “opposite” of the libertarians in order to fake their own opposition. E.J. Dione wrote about the “great divide” in the Washington Post in 2002.

After it came out several times in the mainstream press, I wrote a lot of letters to Libs, hoping somebody whould tell the Libertarians they were being set-up as America’s last hope. I thought sure the “party of principle” would be interested in knowing more about a “new” theory that eliminates our entire nation of laws in favor of a UN established regional government of “values.”

The Libertarian Party headquarters told me eight years ago, when I wrote them for clarification on their position, that they weren’t using the term (or teaching it to their party members) because the word was too hard for people to understand. They said they addressed it in other, easier ways. In the years since, every communitarian plan and program I read became U.S. policy. Today, every state in the union has adopted communitarian laws.

There is NO opposition to them, and not even Ron Paul will take on the task of teaching Americans the ONE term that will explain why the U.S. govt has expanded federal authority over the states. Ron Paul wrote a whole article on the Third Way and never mentioned the underlying theory once.

As one of you mentioned above, they know this oh so hard term in Europe, as it was the primary reason the Dutch and French rejected the proposed EU Constitution. Now the “benign” communitarians are creating an EU via a new “treaty” process, so as to stop the interference of the voters.

Bottom line: the Libertarian Party will not officially challenge real communitarianism (or the leader, Amitai Etzioni), because many of the party leaders are communitarians themselves.

I think the Libertarian Party was created only as controlled opposition in a Hegelian ruse. Of course I’d love to be proven wrong about this and someday maybe somebody will. This isn’t about the junior members or party members, this is about the leadership of ALL U.S. parties. I don’t think the voters know anything about how they’ve been duped.

For me, understanding the dialectic explained why nobody would investigate Etzioni’s influence on U.S. law and policies. Why does the Party refuse to take on Etzioni, who may very well be the most dangerous man in this country? How is it possible that the most beloved Libertarian could belong to a leftist radical organization (SDS) in the 60s… the same radical anti-war group Amitai Etzioni belonged to? Isn’t it ironic that one man went on to help rejuvinate libertarianism, the other man created the Communitarian Network and whole new socio-economic theory with Mikhail Gorbachev. Now their theories are poised to do (non) battle in the last great American political (non) debate, one that will surely show Communitarians as being more Libertarian than the Libertarians.

Let’s ask Ron Paul if he’s elected if he’ll retain the services of the 11 “communitarian thinkers” Dana Milbank of the Washington Post identified in the Bush White House in 2002. Ask him if he’ll fire Etzioni, Galston or Putnam. If Etzioni stays in power, it won’t matter who gets elected, ever.

My thesis on communitarianism is “The Historical Evolution of Communitarian Thinking,” and it’s at the ACL website, http://nord.twu.net/acl

My latest article is “What’s the Big Idea? Part I: Dialectical Freedom” and it’s posted on my blog, http://www.nikiraapana.blogspot.com

I’d love to engage in some meaningful “dialogue” regarding communitarianism in the USA.

Someone must decide each person’s “ability” and “need” and transfer the wealth accordingly. If you don’t believe me, read Hayek’s “Serfdom”. It’s an incredible dissection of the myths of socialism (in all its forms).

Or statism. Socialism, fascism, totalitarianism, communism, communitarianism…

Actually communism is an economic policy opposite of capitalism. It’s not intrinsically authoritarian.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,”

And reverse it. The individual is not the focus of Communitarianism, the Community and society are. Just another scheme to try and trick people into thinking that the State gives you your rights. Unaccountable, top down moral relativism, no thanks.

You first.

Why don’t you click the links and see for yourself, or contribute something yourself instead of, I don’t know, crying like a baby about “labels”? Is that contributing? Seems more to me like the pot calling the kettle black.

IMO crying about people using “labels” isn’t contributing, it is just whining. I am not going to copy and paste your homework in here for you, you have a mouse that can click links, there is more information about Communintarianism in those links the there is in your crying about “labels”. You want to discuss “Communitarian Policy”, well, the link to the Agenda 21 summit is pretty much Communitarianism in Action and Freedom 21 Santa Cruz is fighting against it.

My point is that the Communitarian agenda has been what is behind all these “private property” issues we read about, such as Eminent Domain, as well as “Sustainable Development”, which is a churched up buzzword for Communitarian Policies, and it sells better in the US since it isn’t instantly associated with Communism/Socialism/etc. Agenda 21 is over 15 years ago, and isn’t a “label” or an “organization”, it is an AGENDA. Get it?

Eminent Domain, Sustainable Development. I guess those aren’t policies to you? But hey, if you are just now learning about Communitarianism and consider yourself a Libertarian, then you need to do more reading because it is pretty much the Antithesis to the Constitution and Classical Liberalism. Communitarianism is old news, except in the US, where it is no news. Although Wash U in STL does have a program for Communitarian studies.

http://freedom21santacruz.net/site/

Communitarianism in action is giving up national sovereignty to appointed bureaucrats in supranational organizations like the UN.

The UN is Communitarian (originally to be called the European Community), and the NAU will be based on it as well. Communitarian philosophy also ties into the Kilo case and is linked to Eminent Domain.

And what is the opposite of libertarianism? Libertarians would say fascism. But in the American political context, it is something infinitely milder that calls itself communitarianism.

The opposite of libertarian is authoritarian.