Natural_Rights_And_Herbert_Croly

Natural Rights And Herbert Croly “They did it, no doubt, in the name of democracy; but of all perverted conceptions of democracy, one of the most perverted and dangerous is that which identifies it exclusively with a system of natural rights” (Croly 81). To Herbert Croly, in his book The Promise of American Life, God or nature cannot secure individual rights. The entire nation, as a whole, must work to make sure that all of the people have equal rights and equal opportunity. The American people’s loyalty to the idea of democracy, as they understand it, cannot be questioned. But what it means to them is more of an idea of popular sovereignty. The will of the people determines what the government should or should not do. For Croly, democracy means much more than just popular sovereignty. Although “there can be no democracy where the people do not rule,” a “government by the people is not necessarily democratic” (Croly 179). While individual freedom is important, the whole of a nation must create the future; thus no one person can do it. For this to work there must be equal rights for all individuals. “A community in which no man or no rights, equal, croly, must, people, democracy, american, work, men, individuals, one, individual, equality, united, true, sovereignty, should, nation, democratic, come, born, social, popular, person, idea, government, give, future, cannot, brotherhood, truly, together, system, spirit, something