Causes greater

I wonder if it's such a terrible thing -- from a libertarian standpoint -- that John McCain calls on people to "sacrifice for a cause greater than yourself." Libertarians such as Gene Healy and Kerry Howley deplore that phrase. But isn't liberty in point of fact a cause greater than the self-interest of anybody propounding it? And isn't it a pretty good thing that what McCain wants people to sacrifice includes earmarks, ethanol subsidies and other state largesse? I think so.