To be GOVERNED is to be kept in sight, inspected, spied upon, directed, law-driven, numbered, enrolled, indoctrinated, preached at, controlled, estimated, valued, censured, commanded, by creatures who have neither the right, nor the wisdom, nor the virtue to do so. To be GOVERNED is to be at every operation, at every transaction, noted, registered, enrolled, taxed, stamped, measured, numbered, assessed, licensed, authorized, admonished, forbidden, reformed, corrected, punished. It is, under pretext of public utility, and in the name of the general interest, to be placed under contribution, trained, ransomed, exploited, monopolized, extorted, squeezed, mystified, robbed; then, at the slightest resistance, the first word of complaint, to be repressed, fined, despised, harassed, tracked, abused, clubbed, disarmed, choked, imprisoned, judged, condemned, shot, deported, sacrificed, sold, betrayed; and, to crown all, mocked, ridiculed, outraged, dishonored. That is government; that is its justice; that is its morality.
– Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, General Idea of the Revolution in the Nineteenth Century [1851]
HORNBERGER'S BLOG
March 31, 2020 Muhammad Ali's Fight Against the Pentagon
Like many home-bounders during this coronavirus crisis, I’m watching movies on Netflix and Amazon Prime. I just finished watching a biography of Muhammad Ali, who was one of the greatest boxers of all time, if not the greatest. Perhaps the biggest demarcation point in Ali’s life occurred when he refused to comply with a draft notice ordering him to be ...
Preventing Liberty from Becoming a Coronavirus Fatality
by Ted Galen Carpenter
Public attitudes about the coronavirus outbreak increasingly exhibit features of a collective panic. That development creates the danger that government measures designed to deal ...
The Wrong Solution to Welfare Marriage Penalties
by Laurence M. Vance
The typical wedding ceremony, reception, and honeymoon can cost tens of thousands of dollars. Although all of it may be paid for up front, ...
The Deep State's Demolition of Democracy
by James Bovard
“Thank God for the Deep State,” declared former acting CIA chief John McLaughlin while appearing on a panel at the National Press Club last ...
Spending America into Bankruptcy
by Jacob G. Hornberger and Richard M. Ebeling
The coronavirus crisis is motivating Congress to enact a massive $2 trillion spending bill, and motivating the ...