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 […]
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: […]
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 […]
