Tag Archives | liberty

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Defining Freedom Down – Redefinindo a Liberdade – Portuguese

Thanks a lot to the Instituto Rothbard for translating my “Defining Freedom Down” into Portuguese – and for the great art work! Instituto Rothbard Redefinindo a liberdade Por James Bovard – A Grande Pandemia terá soltado as rédeas dos governos permanentemente em todo o mundo? A Covid-19 está permitindo que os políticos transformem a liberdade […]

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German Translation of my Never Ending Battle Between Leviathan and Liberty

Hearty thanks to the Ludwig von Mises Institut Deutschland for translating my piece, “The Never-Ending Battle between Leviathan and Liberty.” Folks who’ve heard me speak German are grateful the translation wasn’t done by me.  My fluency in that language is limited to a shoulder shrug followed by, “Mein Deutsch ist schlecht.” XXXXXXX Der niemals endende […]

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Zesty Interview with Leighton Smith, Top Podcast in New Zealand

Leighton Smith, a legendary radio host who now does the top podcast in New Zealand, interviewed me last Sunday.  Leighton describes himself as a libertarian conservative and he has long followed political battles both in his country and in the U.S.  I was amazed at how thoroughly Leighton prepped; he pulled up lines that I […]

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The Never-Ending Battle between Leviathan and Liberty

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 […]

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2020 Ravaged Comforting American Myths

American Institute for Economic Research, December 30, 2020 The Year in which Comforting American Myths Were Ravaged James Bovard Thanks in large part to Covid lockdowns, this year has left vast wreckage in its wake, with ten million jobs lost, more than 100,000 businesses and dozens of national chains bankrupted or closed. Up to 40 […]

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Trust No One with the Presidency’s Powers (1988 & 2000)

Many Americans feel like they have a miserable choice of presidential candidates this year.  But the same pattern goes back at least to the end of the Reagan era. For decades, presidents have had far more power than they can be trusted with. Here are election season pieces I wrote on this theme in 1988 […]

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Defining Despotism Down

American Institute for Economic Research, October 27, 2020 Defining Despotism Down James Bovard The simultaneous defining down of both democracy and despotism is 2020’s darkest legacy. Voters are recognizing that their ballots merely choose elective dictators who can exempt themselves from the Constitution simply by pronouncing the word “emergency.” At the same time, despotism is […]

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