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 […]
Tag Archives | slavery
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
FFF: The Great Sugar Robbery Continues
The Great Sugar Robbery Continues by James Bovard Seventeen years ago, The Future of Freedom Foundation published my piece “The Great Sugar Shaft.” That article hammered federal sugar policy as one of the most brazen interventionist failures in American history. Unfortunately, the political looting of sugar consumers and food producers continues unabated. Federal price supports […]