Countdown to Christmas
13 - Hedonism
- Moralizing fellow citizens often pretend that they are not against freedom itself, but maintain that freedom must serve higher goals and purposes and not mundane pleasure as an end in itself. For them hedonism has nothing to do with freedom. For liberals, however, it is clear that the pursuit of pleasure - as long as it does not harm other people - is perfectly legitimate.
- And also: who determines what a legitimate “higher” goal of freedom is. And how can it be enforced without coercion? The suspicion is that the supposed friends of freedom who condemn hedonism may not really be serious about freedom.
- A free society can only exist if it leaves the choice of lifestyle (including a hedonistic one) to the individual and safeguards the rules that guarantee this freedom of choice (e.g. property rights).
An up-tempo Rock'n Roll tune with joyous vocal harmonies in typical Beach Boy's style and a very effective guitar intro inspired by Chuck Berry's iconic song „Johnny B. Goode“ – those were the ingredients for succes for this recording, which reached No. 5 in the US-Charts in 1964. But there was more in it.
The song, composed by band members Brian Wilson and Mike Love, celebrates joy for its own sake. It is about a girl that is driving a fast-running T-Bird, is showing of at the hamburger stand, makes the other girls envious, and, finally, beats the boys and their automobiles in a car chase. It is a celebration of pure and rousing hedonism. Unrestrained freedom, unrestrained joy!
However, the girl's „pursuit of happinerss“ soon comes to an end. We learn, that she took her dad's car under the pretence (the Beach Boys sing „lie“) that she is going to drive to the library – a use of freedom that even moralising dads appreciate. At the end he finds out and the keys of the T-Bird are taken away.
What is the liberal lesson? Outbursts of unfettered hedonism are wonderful and everyone can only sympathise with the girl. However, in order to enjoy it permanently, some rules that guarantee freedom are required. This includes respecting property rights. Even if the girl's hedonism itself is not only legitimate, but completely understandable for every fun-loving person: In the end, only Dad as the owner has the right to dispose of the T-Bird.
So see, that you can have a car of your own, soon!
That is also a lesson to be learned.
