Quotes
"here's the basic rule. All the responsibility you abdicate will be taken up by tyrants. That's the cardinal rule of social organization”
“The idea is you have to produce a hierarchy of responsibility, distributed responsibility as an antithesis to tyranny and to the desert. And that's the model for good governance.”
“Part of the model that we're trying to put forward in this group that I'm describing is based on this principle of subsidiarity and the idea that we want to encourage everyone to take as much responsibility as possible at the most local level possible”
“Part of the model is based on this principle of subsidiarity and the idea that we want to encourage everyone to take as much responsibility as possible at the most local level possible”
So now you start to understand the nature of the principles of order. Okay? So now two things happen. Jethro, who's Moses father in law, comes along. He's a Midianite. A foreigner. And he says, you got to stop doing this. You can't sit as judge on the Israelites. There are two reasons they need the responsibility and you shouldn't turn yourself into another Pharaoh. So if you take all the responsibility onto yourself, you become a tyrant and the Israelites stay slaves. So he says to Jethro, this is a signal moment in the development of Western culture.
He says: you take the Israelites, you divide them into groups of ten and you have each of the ten elect an elder. And then you take the groups of elders and you have them elect a meta elder. And you do that all the way up to 10,000. And then you have the judgments that are necessary rendered at the lowest level of the hierarchy possible. So if I'm arguing with you, first we go to our elder, and then if the elder can't figure it out, he gets the elders together and maybe they render judgment. If they can't, it goes to the council of Elder elders and all the way up. And if it isn't mediated by the time you have the groupings of 10,000, then Moses gets to weigh in. And that's called subsidiarity.
“You take the people, you divide them into groups of ten and you have each of the ten elect an elder. And then you take the groups of elders and you have them elect a meta elder. And you do that all the way up to 10,000. And then you have the judgments that are necessary rendered at the lowest level of the hierarchy possible. So if I'm arguing with you, first we go to our elder, and then if the elder can't figure it out, he gets the elders together and maybe they render judgment. If they can't, it goes to the council of Elder elders and all the way up. And if it isn't mediated by the time you have the groupings of 10,000, then Moses gets to weigh in. And that's called subsidiarity.”
“You take the Israelites, you divide them into groups of ten and you have each of the ten elect an elder. And then you take the groups of elders and you have them elect a meta elder. And you do that all the way up to 10,000. And then you have the judgments that are necessary rendered at the lowest level of the hierarchy possible. So if I'm arguing with you, first we go to our elder, and then if the elder can't figure it out, he gets the elders together and maybe they render judgment. If they can't, it goes to the council of Elder elders and all the way up. And if it isn't mediated by the time you have the groupings of 10,000, then Moses gets to weigh in. And that's called subsidiarity.”
“Part of the model that we're trying to put forward in this group that I'm describing is based on this principle of subsidiarity and the idea that we want to encourage everyone to take as much responsibility as possible at the most local level possible, right?
So take responsibility for yourself until you're good enough at that. So you can take responsibility maybe for a wife, and then if you're good enough at that, maybe you can extend that to some kids. And then maybe you can serve your local community and then maybe you can serve your state. And maybe if you really get good at it, you could serve your nation, right? But you're taking the responsibility. And here's the basic rule. All the responsibility you abdicate will be taken up by tyrants. That's the cardinal rule of social organization. And so we're trying to build out this story that's based on the deepest elements of Western tradition.”
“There is a model of proper governance in there. This idea of a hierarchical structure of responsibility. It's the proper computational structure. It's not top down tyranny with fractionated individuals and it's not utter chaos. It's ordered freedom…. and it's the ordered freedom that comes along with being oriented towards the highest possible good.”
“Some spirit is going to guide you. That's life. The question is, what is the highest spirit that could guide you? So in the Exodus story, the proposition of the story is the highest spirit that could guide you is the spirit that objects to tyranny and that calls the enslaved to freedom. And that's the representation of God in Exodus. So that's what God is in the Exodus story.”
“So take responsibility for yourself until you're good enough at that. So you can take responsibility maybe for a wife, and then if you're good enough at that, maybe you can extend that to some kids. And then maybe you can serve your local community and then maybe you can serve your state. And maybe if you really get good at it, you could serve your nation, right? But you're taking the responsibility. And here's the basic rule. All the responsibility you abdicate will be taken up by tyrants. That's the cardinal rule of social organization. And so we're trying to build out this story that's based on the deepest elements of Western tradition.”