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As many have warned in the past, freedom is unlikely to be lost all at once and openly. It is far more likely to be eroded away, bit by bit, amid glittering promises and expressions of noble ideals. – Dr. Thomas Sowell, Economics Professor, syndicated columnist, author (H/T: Cafe Hayek)
Via email, just in time for the Supreme Court oral arguments starting next week. “Fathom the Hypocrisy of a Government that requires every citizen to prove they are insured… but not everyone must prove they are a citizen.” (H/T: Jordon)
OK, so it’s no one knowable that has it. But I smiled when I saw it. TACT Is for people not witty enough to be sarcastic BTW? The Eldest has no observable tact unless I poke him in the ribs. So if you know him, you know the validity of this operative phrase: “like a … Read more
In truth, man is naturally independent and self-reliant, which are attributes that contribute to his own well-being and survival, and the well-being and survival of a civil society. He is also a social being who is charitable and compassionate. . . . To condemn individualism as the utopians do is to condemn the very foundation … Read more
All Values are not the same, nor all impulses, nor all men. A Natural gradation teaches men to hold some sentiments dear and others cheap. Leveling radicalism endeavors to put all emotions and sensations on the same level of mediocrity, and so to erase the moral imagination which sets men apart from beasts. -Russell Kirk … Read more
It is easy enough to see why progressive doctrine should be attractive to our masters. Tyrannical ambition is nothing new, and throughout human history it has nearly always presented itself to men in the guise of idealism. We are all inclined to meddle in other people’s business; we are all inclined to think that we … Read more
On being called the next Dr. Bill Cosby (noted black entertainer who berates the black community on it culture and on education issues): “I am from the pre-crack generation. When I was growing up, we never, ever, never ridiculed someone because they were a good student,” he said. “Your generation, they now equate intelligence with … Read more
“He conceives that the business of the magistrate is not merely to see that the persons and property of the people are secure from attack, but that he ought to be a jack-of-all-trades, architect, engineer, schoolmaster, merchant, theologian, a Lady Bountiful in every parish, a Paul Pry in every house, spying, eavesdropping, relieving, admonishing, spending … Read more
In the Progressive view, the ends of government cannot be limited to protecting natural rights, because nature supplies no rights, and positive rights created by government change over time. Thus limited government is replaced with government of unlimited power and scope, what some political scientists call the administrative state. Rejecting natural justice, the liberal mind … Read more
“I believe in compromise when both parties have similar goals in mind, but today, the goals of the Democratic and Republican parties are at polar opposites. On one hand, you have a party pushing for more dependence and collectivist, big-government policies, and on the other hand, you have a party that wants more freedom and … Read more
Like too many western aid experts, Samuel Loewenberg misses the fundamental reason famines still ravage developing countries (“The Famine Next Time,” Nov. 27).The reason isn’t drought. Yuma, Arizona, gets vanishingly little rainfall, yet denizens of that city aren’t ever threatened with starvation. Nor is the reason a lack of Well-Researched Plans designed and implemented by … Read more
"There is all the difference in the world between treating people equally and attempting to make them equal. While the first is the condition of a free society, the second means, as De Tocqueville described it, “a new form of servitude.” – F. A. Hayek, economist, writer (H/T: Cafe Hayek)
Jim Hightower: "George H.W. Bush was born on third base and thought he hit a triple." "Obama wasn’t born on third base, but he does seem to think that he should get to run the bases after every strikeout." – Jonah Goldberg, syndicated columnist, National Review editor-at-large
Roosevelt transformed millions of Americans from citizens into clients. The direct effect of this was evil, and the indirect effect was even worse, for all these people were robbed of their self-respect. – H.L. Mencken And Obama is turning those clients into subjects….the Progressive philosophy squares the circle of feudalism: security at the price of … Read more
I saw videos of youths burning things in Oakland, but was told that it “was a small minority” and atypical of the protest. Not long ago I saw no clips of anyone spitting at black congresspeople wading into the Tea-Party demonstration, but was told they did and that it was typical of tens of thousands … Read more
“Hilary Clinton said you know, it takes a village to raise a child and somebody said it takes a village idiot to believe that … it is part of the whole thing of third parties wanting to make decisions for which they pay no price for when they’re wrong.” – Dr. Thomas Sowell, economist, professor, … Read more
Just for Steve on the 17th-century Scottish Highlanders: It is not strange that the haughty and warlike MacDonalds, despising peaceful industry, yet envying the fruits of that industry, should have fastened a succession of quarrels on the people of Inverness. In the reign of Charles the Second, it had been apprehended that the town would … Read more
But I am of the opinion that a centralized administration is fit only to enervate the nations in which it exists, by incessantly diminishing their local spirit. Although such an administration can bring together at a given moment, on a given point, all the disposable resources of a people, it injures the renewal of those … Read more
Here’s the thing: They’re the 1 percent, but we’re the 99 percent. Their wealth may be much more than ours, but 99 is a much bigger number than one. So we should just gang up and take their money. When one person takes the property of another, that’s tyranny, but when lots of people get … Read more
(Emphasis mine) The Occupy Wall Street demonstrators are demanding "people before profits" — as if profit motivation were the source of mankind’s troubles — when it’s often the absence of profit motivation that’s the true villain. First, let’s get both the definition and magnitude of profits out of the way. Profits represent the residual claim … Read more