Tag Archives | slavery

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Sovereignty Still Rests with the People, Not Congress

American Institute for Economic Research, February 12, 2021 Sovereignty Still Rests with the People, Not Congress James Bovard Politicians lustfully rejoicing at their own power is the ultimate “dog bites man” story that goes unremarked in Washington. The Senate impeachment trial of Donald Trump included one such vivid vignette, an ominous warning that Congress recognizes […]

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Government as Slave Owner (2000)

Google notified that my article from 20 years ago was recently reposted so I will run it up the flagpole here as well.   That piece was partially spun off from my 1999 book, Freedom in Chains (St. Martin’s Press.  Here is a paragraph from that book that did not make it into the article below: […]

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A Halo for the Civil War is Hogwash

Libertarian Institute, July 16, 2020 A Halo for the Civil War is Hogwash by James Bovard “If the people who started wars didn’t make them sacred, who would be foolish enough to fight?” said Rhett Butler, the savvy anti-hero in Gone with the Wind. Politicians, activist historians, and social justice warriors have awarded the American […]

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Thoreau and Emerson Helped Spark the Civil War

American Conservative, July 9, 2020 19th Century Radical Chic: How Transcendentalists’ Swooned Over John Brown Thoreau and Emerson’s effort to canonize the abolitionist fanatic helped spark the Civil War.  by  Jim Bovard Many Americans have been aghast at violent mobs toppling statues and the widespread looting and destructive rampages that followed the killing of George […]

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Buttigieg’s Biggest Boondoggle: An Army Of Federally Funded Leftist Activists?

American Renewal Buttigieg’s Biggest Boondoggle: An Army Of Federally Funded Leftist Activists? James Bovard Contributor November 20, 2019 5:18 PM ET Democratic presidential frontrunner Pete Buttigieg is calling for a vast expansion of “national service” to enlist a million young Americans to perform federally approved activities. Buttigieg says his program will “repair the social fabric […]

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Volunteers take the AmeriCorps pledge during an event to honor the 20th anniversary of the AmeriCorps national service program, on the South Lawn of the White House, Sept. 12, 2014. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

AmeriCorps Boondoggle King Harris Wofford’s Toxic Legacy

American Conservative, January 30, 2019 Remembering an AmeriCorps Boondoggle Boss Harris Wofford’s legacy: expensive, government-directed “service” for silly politically approved causes. By James Bovard Harris Wofford, a former U.S. senator and long-time Democratic political operative who ran AmeriCorps from 1995 to 2001, died last week at the age of 92. The New York Times hailed Wofford […]

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Government as Slave Owner (2000)

The latest hubbub over whether slavery was the sole cause of the Civil War reminded me of this article on how modern governments have connived to seize unlimited power over citizens.   The Declaration of Independence was clear that Americans rights pre-existed the creation of government.  But today’s Statists see government as the fount of all rights.  What […]

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