Tag Archives | Democracy

tax symbol no-representation-without-taxation-L-j6ol28

Your Tax Dollars at Work and Play

I’m sitting here filling out my IRS Form 1040 and just realized that I’m suffering from a severe deficit of idealism. To rectify that defect, I re-read this op-ed I wrote in 2011…. Washington Times, April 14, 2011 Uncle Sam’s big plans for your hard-earned tax dollars by James Bovard Congratulations – your tax payment […]

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USATODAY-LOGO

Ripping the Raisin Regime in USA Today

USA Today April 5, 2013 (also syndicated nationwide via Gannett) Fight for the Right to Grow Raisins by James Bovard If the Supreme Court cannot smack down the raisin racket, then it should forfeit any pretense of safeguarding Americans’ rights and liberties. The Supreme Court could soon end one of the federal government’s most archaic […]

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Freedom-in-Chains

Political Accounting: Why Waste is Inevitable

From the Freeman, September 1999 – partly extracted from my Freedom in Chains (1999) Here are a few of the punchier lines from the piece – * The benevolence of government rarely transcends the venality of politics. * The amount of power a politician can seize over other people is inversely related to the politician’s […]

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FEE

Don’t Scapegoat Freedom for Leviathan’s Failures

Listening to the media touting Obama around the clock reminded me of a piece I wrote for Sheldon Richman, editor of the Freeman, five years ago. Unfortunately, the media and intellectuals are playing the same bunkum games now that they did under the previous president. Here are some one-liners plucked from the following article: * […]

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Democracy Declining Around the Globe?

I wrote this review 3 years ago for the American Conservative. However, since democracy is still floundering in a heap of places, the analysis is not yet out of date. Many of Obama’s policies since 2010 illustrate how representative government is descending into Elective Dictatorship. Here are a few extracts of my comments from the […]

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FEE

Democracy vs. Liberty (2006)

Today’s Foundation for Economic Education‘s email lists a 2006 Freeman article I wrote as a “timely classic.” Unfortunately, the article is not out of date.  Once more around the track…. Here are some of the punchier lines from the piece: *The more confused people’s thinking becomes, the easier it is for rulers to invoke democracy […]

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train-wreck-shrunk

Our Know-Nothing Foreign Policy

From January 2011, my American Conservative review of Derek Leebaert’s Magic and Mayhem. Worst and Brightest Review of Magic and Mayhem: The Delusions of American Foreign Policy From Korea to Afghanistan, Derek Leebaert, Simon & Schuster, 336 pages By James Bovard In the decades since John F. Kennedy’s inauguration, foreign-policy experts have become Washington’s leading […]

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