Counterpunch, July 26, 2024 Biden And The Mirage Of American Democracy by James Bovard Americans should tolerate no president invoking “the will of the people” to sanctify his crimes. Since late 2020, President Joe Biden has invoked “the will of the people” dozens of times to sanctify his power, including arbitrary decrees that were illegal […]
Tag Archives | Rousseau
Biden’s Blather and American Democracy Gone Awry
Biden’s Blather and American Democracy Gone Awry by James Bovard, July 23, 2024 Since late 2020, President Joe Biden has invoked “the will of the people” dozens of times to sanctify his power, including arbitrary decrees that were illegal or unconstitutional. Biden’s invocations did not prevent his re-election campaign from being terminated behind closed doors […]
How Intellectuals Cured ‘Tyrannophobia’
American Conservative, July 24, 2020 How Intellectuals Cured ‘Tyrannophobia’ American presidents have adopted Hobbesian levels of power. by Jim Bovard Almost 400 years ago, English philosopher Thomas Hobbes wrote a book scoffing at tyrannophobia—the “fear of being strongly governed.” This was a peculiar term that Hobbes invented in Leviathan, since civilized nations had feared […]
Democracy versus Liberty
Trump’s presidency is helping Americans recognize that voting is no guarantee for individual liberty. This is perhaps the most frequently forgotten lesson in politics. Many liberals were convinced that Obama’s election somehow made Americans’ constitutional rights safe, while many conservatives believed that Al Gore’s defeat in 2000 provided the same windfall. In reality, no president can be […]
Jean Jacques Rousseau, Intellectual Wrecker
June 28th is the 300th birthday of Jean Jacques Rousseau, a French philosopher whose writings have cursed political life since the mid-1700s. The New Republic has a good essay on Rousseau’s bitter legacy here. I paid my respects to Rousseau in Freedom in Chains: The Rise of the State and the Demise of the Citizen […]