Clarification
It’s come to my attention that some people misunderstood what I was getting at in this post, so I want to make it crystal clear if I can—knowing, of course, that Karl Popper was correct when he said it is … Continue reading →
Category Archives: Liberty
Twas ever thus
Commenter “Geoffrey Britain” offered some quotes in a recent comment that were so excellent I thought I’d highlight them here: There are men in all ages who mean to govern well, but they mean to govern. They promise to be … Continue reading →
Madison: seeing into the future?
A comment by NeoConScum in which he quoted Madison’s Federalist Paper #55 was so compelling that I went to the source for more. There I found the following gems [emphases mine]: I am unable to conceive that the people of … Continue reading →
From democracy to despotism
Here’s a quote to ponder: As Montesquieu understood, polities established on extended territories tend to end up as despotisms. They do so for a set of simple reasons. In such a polity, the government is at a great distance from … Continue reading →
Totten on Morsi
Michael Totten gets around, and yesterday he talked about what’s been going on lately in Egypt: [Morsi’s] already being called the new Pharaoh. It makes no difference that he was elected. Democracy isn’t just about getting elected. A democratic election … Continue reading →
Who wrote this, and when?
First, a quote: The pattern is familiar enough: an established autocracy with a record of friendship with the U.S. is attacked by insurgents…Violence spreads and American officials wonder aloud about the viability of a regime that “lacks the support of … Continue reading →
The day after
I had been dreading yesterday for weeks, and I felt that dread especially keenly in the week leading up to the election. The arguments on the right that the polls were rigged never made sense to me. When I researched … Continue reading →
Reagan and the generations
Here’s a great moment from Reagan (hat tip: Dr. Sanity). The speech was given in 1961, over fifty years ago. But his words seem all too prescient, considering what’s going on today:
Continue reading →Bad but not unexpected news
Chavez wins. It might be the case that fraud was unnecessary for the Chavez win. But if fraud was necessary, then fraud was committed. There is virtually no chance Chavez was going to be allowed to lose. The lede says … Continue reading →
Proof positive…
…that Obama’s election has improved our standing around the world. And I would submit that, although I agree with the headline that this is an endorsement Obama “doesn’t want,” I’d amend it to say that what he actually doesn’t want … Continue reading →
Not-so-close encounters
An interesting bit of trivia: While at Eton, Eric Blair (future pen name, George Orwell) “was briefly taught French by Aldous Huxley.” England’s a small place, isn’t it? That wasn’t Orwell and Huxley’s only exchange. Huxley wrote to Orwell on … Continue reading →
Bastille Day…
…is today. The French rallying cry “
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