Hearty thanks to Keith Knight for having me on his Don’t Tread on Anyone podcast to discuss Last Rights: The Death of American Liberty. We had fun smacking federal agencies far and wide, from the FBI to the TSA to the EPA. If folks retained their faith in Washington after our 45 minute discussion, it […]
Macaulay and My 75-Cent Epiphanies, Part 1 by James Bovard Fearing that my writing style was becoming anemic, I recently sought a literary booster shot from my bookshelves. Happily, a dozen volumes of Thomas Macaulay awaited me. Macaulay made history mesmerizing, and I have been captivated by his speed, grace, and wit for 40 years. […]
Biden’s Rescue Act Targets Americans’ Freedoms by James Bovard Since the 1800s, surly Americans have derided politicians for spending tax dollars “like drunken sailors.” Until recently, that was considered a grave character fault. But Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan Act shows that inebriated spending is now the path to national salvation. It was a common […]
Mises Institute, March 18, 2021 The Never-Ending Battle between Leviathan and Liberty by James Bovard The notion that Americans will always be free is part of the catechism that is force-fed to public school students. For hundreds of years, philosophers, politicians, and reformers have touted a law of history that assures the ultimate triumph of […]
My old friend Bill Schulz passed away this week after a hard fight with multiple illnesses. Bill, who was born in 1939, was one of the most talented editors I ever had the pleasure of working with. For more than 30 years, Bill was the Washington editor for Reader’s Digest when the Digest was by […]
The Mises Institute reposted a 1999 article I wrote for Sheldon Richman at The Freeman on how government handouts can subvert freedom. That piece was adapted from my book, Freedom in Chains: The Rise of the State and the Demise of the Individual (St. Martin’s Press). Looking back on this 20 years later, I am […]
Friedrich Hayek was born this day in 1899. Hayek had a huge influence on the development of my political thinking. I learned about Hayek’s existence when William F. Buckley spoke at Virginia Tech and touted the Austrian economist’s opposition to the Welfare State. I zipped to the bookstore the next morning and snared Hayek’s 1944 […]
