{"id":21474,"date":"2025-05-05T12:15:10","date_gmt":"2025-05-05T16:15:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/?p=21474"},"modified":"2025-05-05T14:32:19","modified_gmt":"2025-05-05T18:32:19","slug":"political-slavery-in-our-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/05\/political-slavery-in-our-times\/","title":{"rendered":"Political Slavery in Our Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n

<\/h2>\n

Political Slavery in Our Times<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/strong>
\n<\/strong>by James Bovard<\/h2>\n
In 1977, East Germany ransomed hundreds of its leading intellectuals and artists to West Germany, partly because it did not wish to endure public criticism by its own citizens during an International Rights Conference. In spite of the human sale, there was no general revulsion against the East German government in the international community. The East German regime was considered by many social scientists to have more legitimacy than the West German government because of its more expansive social welfare system and its grandiose paternalist pretensions. Romania engaged in similar sales during the 1980s with its Jewish and ethnic-German subjects.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
How many of its citizens does a government have to sell before it loses legitimacy? How many of its subjects does a government have to sell \u201con the world market\u201d before all subjects of that government are recognized as essentially slaves<\/strong>? The fact that socialist governments treated their citizens as disposable pawns did not spur any type of backlash from American political scientists against them.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
During the 1980\u20131988 Iraq-Iran war, the Iranian government used thousands of children to clear minefields for its precious tanks. Children were rounded up, given small silver keys to assure them that they would quickly enter Paradise, chained together, and sent to clear minefields in front of Iranian tanks. Older draftees were used in human wave attacks explicitly designed to exhaust the ammunition of Iraqi defenders. If the government possesses the right to throw children into a minefield for the convenience of its military operations, then are not all children slaves of the political rulers?<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
American conscripts as cannon fodder<\/strong><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
American draftees during the Vietnam War were not as damned, but was their fate a difference in degree more than a difference in principle? American politicians claimed that the goal of the U.S. involvement was to prevent the people of South Vietnam from falling under communist tyranny. But politicians relied on conscription \u2014 which effectively gave them almost boundless power over the lives of millions of young American males. Had it not been for the military draft \u2014 and perennial government lies \u2014 presidents Johnson and Nixon and the U.S. Congress could not have squandered the lives of tens of thousands of Americans in the jungles and rice paddies of Vietnam.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Defense Secretary Robert McNamara described Vietnam as a \u201csocial scientists\u2019 war\u201d \u2014 and apparently the scientists had a right to deceive the students and send them to their death<\/strong>s. In his 1995 book, McNamara announced: \u201cUnderlying many of these errors [in how the United States conducted the war] lay our failure to organize the top echelons of the executive branch to deal effectively with the extraordinarily complex range of political and military issues … associated with the application of military force under substantial constraints over a long period of time.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
But as army major and Gulf War veteran H. R. McMaster, author of the 1997 book Dereliction of Duty<\/em>, argued, \u201cThis [failed war strategy] was not due just to overconfidence, not due just to arrogance, this was due to deliberate deception of the American public and Congress based on the president\u2019s short-term political goals.\u201d McMaster also observed, \u201cThe Great Society, the dominant political determinant of Johnson\u2019s military strategy, had nothing to do with the war itself.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
McNamara, in a 1995 interview, justified not being honest with both Congress and the American people regarding the winnability of the war: \u201cI was a servant of our president. He appointed me; he was elected by the people. My obligation to our people was to do what their elected representative wanted.\u201d McNamara also insisted that citizens must obey: \u201cWhere you\u2019re asked to follow instructions by an elected representative of your government, follow them…. I believe that we all have an obligation to serve our government or take the penalty, take a jail sentence, if we violate the law.\u201d Apparently, no amount of government lies can reduce the citizens\u2019 obligation to follow government orders.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
It was politically cheaper to send tens of thousands of young people to die in vain than to risk being called soft on communism. According to a December 21, 1970, entry in the diary of Nixon White House chief of staff H. R. Haldeman:<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
K [Henry Kissinger, Nixon\u2019s national security adviser] came in and the discussion covered some of the general thinking about Vietnam and the [president\u2019s] big peace plan for next year, which K later told me he does not favor. He thinks that any pullout next year would be a serious mistake because the adverse reaction to it could set in well before the \u201972 elections. He favors instead a continued winding down and then a pullout right at the fall of \u201972 so that if any bad results follow they will be too late to affect the election.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
When Haldeman\u2019s diary was published posthumously in 1996, Kissinger hotly denied making such comments. The peace treaty was signed in early 1973; South Vietnam was conquered two years later when the North Vietnamese government ignored the treaty and sent its army directly into Saigon.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Politicians frittered away the lives of American soldiers in order to make political statements to the North Vietnamese government and the American people. This illustrates how political slavery differs from economic slavery: few private slaveowners would have cast off their prized possessions in the same cavalier way that American politicians disposed of the lives of conscripts.<\/strong><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Forgotten leashes<\/strong><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Over 400 years ago, French philosopher Etienne de la Boetie observed, \u201cIt is fruitless to argue whether or not liberty is natural, since none can be held in slavery without being wronged.\u201d Similar sentiments spurred English thinkers from the 1600s onward, especially equating boundless government power with slavery. John Locke wrote: \u201cNobody can desire to have me in his Absolute Power, unless it be to compel me by force to that, which is against the Right of my Freedom, i.e., make me a slave.\u201d John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon, in Cato\u2019s Letters in 1721, wrote: \u201cLiberty is, to live upon one\u2019s own terms; slavery is, to live at the mere mercy of another.\u201d William Pitt declared that if Americans had submitted to the Stamp Act, they would \u201cas voluntarily to submit to be slaves.\u201d When the Continental Congress issued its formal Appeal to Arms in 1775, it declared, \u201cWe have counted the cost of this contest, and find nothing so dreadful as voluntary slavery.\u201d Historian John Phillip Reid wrote, \u201cThe word \u2018slavery\u2019 did outstanding service during the revolutionary controversy, not only because it summarized so many political, legal and constitutional ideas and was charged with such content. It was also of value because it permitted a writer to say so much about liberty.\u201d Though some of the rhetoric of the 1760s and 1770s is overheated by modern standards, those thinkers recognized what unlimited government power meant to the lives of citizens.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Early Americans had a vivid concept of governmental authorities \u201cgoing too far.\u201d<\/strong> The early state constitutions and the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights sought to craft institutions to keep government forever humbled to the citizenry. When governments were less powerful in this country, most controversies regarding sovereignty occurred over whether state or federal governments had supreme jurisdiction within their domains. But as government power mushroomed, the issue of sovereignty became far more important. In the same way that every military invasion raises questions of national sovereignty, every regulatory invasion by politicians and bureaucrats must raise questions about the sovereignty of individuals over their own lives. What pretexts justify government massively transgressing the border of the individual\u2019s own life?<\/strong><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
In ancient Rome, philosophers debated whether a citizen was still free after he voluntarily sold himself into slavery. Are today\u2019s citizens still free after they effectively vote to make themselves wards of the state?<\/strong> Proliferating paternalistic policies make a mockery of democracy; citizens who cannot choose their own toilets are supposedly free because they may cast ballots for politicians with authority over the appointment of the agency director who is supposed to oversee the bureaucrats who dictate what toilets citizens may buy. Supposedly, as long as the citizens are permitted to push the first domino, they are still self-governing, regardless of how many other government dominos subsequently fall on their heads.<\/strong><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Modern-day slavery<\/strong><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Have we transferred to government the authority that we previously condemned in slaveowners<\/strong>? As Lysander Spooner warned in 1867, \u201cA man is none the less a slave because he is allowed to choose a new master once in a term of years…. What makes them slaves is the fact that they now are, and are always hereafter to be, in the hands of men whose power over them is, and always is to be, absolute and irresponsible.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Political slavery is revealed at those moments when the path of the citizen and the state cross \u2014 when the citizen suddenly becomes aware of his complete legal insignificance.<\/strong><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Slavery is not a question of political intent. The greater the state\u2019s legal superiority over the citizen, the closer the citizen becomes to a slave.<\/strong> Modern political slavery means politicians having absolute power over citizens \u2014 the transformation of individual citizens with inviolable rights into mere social, economic, and cannon fodder \u2014 disposable building blocks for their ruler\u2019s fame and glory. The question of whether people are essentially political slaves does not turn on how often government agents beat them but rather on whether government agents possess the prerogatives and immunities that allow such beatings at their discretion. The measure of slavery was the extent of the slaveowners\u2019 power, not the number of lash marks on the slave\u2019s back. Slavery is not an all-or-nothing condition. There are different gradations of slavery, as there are different gradations of freedom.<\/strong><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Because they had experienced oppression by the tools of a government an ocean away, the Founding Fathers sought to craft a government that would be forever subservient to the law. If the rulers are above the law, then law becomes merely a tool of oppression. If rulers are above the law, citizens have the same type of freedom that slaves had on days when their masters chose not to beat them.<\/strong><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cVirtues\u201d of slavery<\/strong><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
While average folks still intuitively recognize the value of freedom in their own lives, there are plenty of poohbahs promoting slavery. Almost 50 years after the East German regime pawned its intellectuals, the World Economic Forum (WEF) is championing serfdom \u2014 at least for the mass of humanity. The WEF promised young people that by the year 2030, \u201cyou will own nothing and be happy.\u201d Recent political reforms in many nations have furthered the first promise, ravaging private-property rights and subverting individual independence. Australian senator Malcolm Roberts warned: \u201cThe plan of the Great Reset is that you will die with nothing. Klaus Schwab\u2019s \u2018life by subscription\u2019 is really serfdom. It\u2019s slavery. Billionaire, globalist corporations will own everything \u2014 homes, factories, farms, cars, furniture \u2014 and everyday citizens will rent what they need, if their social credit score allows.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The world\u2019s kingpins will need to tighten all the mental thumbscrews for propertyless serfs to \u201cbe happy.\u201d<\/strong> Euphoria could be in especially short supply considering other policies championed at the WEF. \u201cIndividual carbon footprint trackers\u201d are a popular panacea at Davos, and the WEF has proposed the \u201csetting of acceptable limits for personal emissions.\u201d How many burps will it take to get sent to reeducation camp? To ensure the accuracy of personal emissions tracking, digital identification will be necessary \u2014perhaps with an RFID chip where the sun doesn\u2019t shine? And don\u2019t forget another WEF pet project \u2014Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC), which will empower officialdom to financially destroy uppity citizens whenever they choose. WEF is also a leading cheerleader for censorship \u2014 the only way to stop hecklers from referring to it as the \u201cWorld Enslavement Forum.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Have the globe\u2019s elite politicians and Lear Jet schemers gone too far? Have the bitter memories of Covid lockdowns and senseless mandates fortified the resistance against further aggrandizement by governments? Can the onslaught of a new slavery be rebuffed while plenty of private citizens still have their own property, free speech, firearms, and the will to resist at any price?<\/strong><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
James Bovard is a policy advisor to The Future of Freedom Foundation and is the author of the ebook <\/em>Freedom Frauds: Hard Lessons in American Liberty<\/a>, published by FFF, his new book,<\/em> Last Rights: The Death of American Liberty, and nine other books.<\/em><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
——————————-<\/div>\n
NEXT MONTH:
\n\u201cThe Deadly Perils of Predatory Idealism\u201d<\/em>
\n<\/em>by James Bovard<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Political Slavery in Our Times by James Bovard In 1977, East Germany ransomed hundreds of its leading intellectuals and artists to West Germany, partly because it did not wish to endure public criticism by its own citizens during an International Rights Conference. In spite of the human sale, there was no general revulsion against the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13041,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[446,4553,15,2349,1198,1442,45,2895,2866,1204,3543,3902,473,4552,245,1159,811,121,3521],"class_list":["post-21474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-american-revolution","tag-central-bank-digital-currencies-cbdc","tag-congress","tag-covid","tag-east-germany","tag-etienne-de-la-boetie","tag-freedom","tag-h-r-mcmaster","tag-haldeman","tag-john-locke","tag-john-phillip-reid","tag-kissinger","tag-lyndon-johnson","tag-mcnamara","tag-nixon","tag-romania","tag-slavery","tag-vietnam","tag-world-economic-forum"],"yoast_head":"\nPolitical Slavery in Our Times - James Bovard<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When government power is unlimited, people become political slaves regardless of the rhetoric of the regime\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/05\/political-slavery-in-our-times\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Political Slavery in Our Times - James Bovard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When government power is unlimited, people become political slaves regardless of the rhetoric of the regime\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/05\/political-slavery-in-our-times\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"James Bovard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jim.bovard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-05T16:15:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-05-05T18:32:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/PODCASTE-COVER-IRON-FIST-SMILE-SMALLER-FOR-FEATURED-Picture-423-e1643746133357.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"365\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"364\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jim\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@jimbovard\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jim\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"10 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/05\\\/political-slavery-in-our-times\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/05\\\/political-slavery-in-our-times\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jim\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f\"},\"headline\":\"Political Slavery in Our Times\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-05T16:15:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-05T18:32:19+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/05\\\/political-slavery-in-our-times\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":2085,\"commentCount\":1,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/05\\\/political-slavery-in-our-times\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/01\\\/PODCASTE-COVER-IRON-FIST-SMILE-SMALLER-FOR-FEATURED-Picture-423-e1643746133357.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"american revolution\",\"Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC)\",\"Congress\",\"COVID\",\"East Germany\",\"Etienne de la Boetie\",\"Freedom\",\"H.R. McMaster\",\"Haldeman\",\"John Locke\",\"John Phillip Reid\",\"Kissinger\",\"Lyndon Johnson\",\"McNamara\",\"nixon\",\"Romania\",\"slavery\",\"vietnam\",\"World Economic Forum\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/05\\\/political-slavery-in-our-times\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/05\\\/political-slavery-in-our-times\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/05\\\/political-slavery-in-our-times\\\/\",\"name\":\"Political Slavery in Our Times - James Bovard\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/05\\\/political-slavery-in-our-times\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/05\\\/political-slavery-in-our-times\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/01\\\/PODCASTE-COVER-IRON-FIST-SMILE-SMALLER-FOR-FEATURED-Picture-423-e1643746133357.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-05T16:15:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-05T18:32:19+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f\"},\"description\":\"When government power is unlimited, people become political slaves regardless of the rhetoric of the regime\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/05\\\/political-slavery-in-our-times\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/05\\\/political-slavery-in-our-times\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/05\\\/political-slavery-in-our-times\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/01\\\/PODCASTE-COVER-IRON-FIST-SMILE-SMALLER-FOR-FEATURED-Picture-423-e1643746133357.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/01\\\/PODCASTE-COVER-IRON-FIST-SMILE-SMALLER-FOR-FEATURED-Picture-423-e1643746133357.jpg\",\"width\":365,\"height\":364},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/05\\\/political-slavery-in-our-times\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Political Slavery in Our Times\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"James Bovard\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f\",\"name\":\"Jim\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"caption\":\"Jim\"},\"description\":\"Bovard's homepage is at http:\\\/\\\/www.jimbovard.com He can be contacted at jim@jimbovard.com James Bovard is the author of ten books. The Wall Street Journal called Bovard \\\"the roving inspector general of the modern state\\\" and Washington Post columnist George Will called him a \\\"one-man truth squad.\\\" His 1994 book, Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty, received the Free Press Association\u2019s Mencken Award as Book of the Year. His Terrorism & Tyranny won the Lysander Spooner \\\"Best Book on Liberty in 2003\\\" award. He received the Thomas Szasz Award for Civil Liberties work, awarded by the Center for Independent Thought and the Freedom Fund Award from the Firearms Civil Rights Defense Fund of the National Rifle Association. Bovard\u2019s writings have been publicly denounced by FBI director Louis Freeh, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Postmaster General, and the chiefs of the U.S. International Trade Commission, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as well as by many congressmen and other malcontents.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.jimbovard.com\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/jim.bovard\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/jimbovard\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/admin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Political Slavery in Our Times - James Bovard","description":"When government power is unlimited, people become political slaves regardless of the rhetoric of the regime","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/05\/political-slavery-in-our-times\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Political Slavery in Our Times - James Bovard","og_description":"When government power is unlimited, people become political slaves regardless of the rhetoric of the regime","og_url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/05\/political-slavery-in-our-times\/","og_site_name":"James Bovard","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jim.bovard","article_published_time":"2025-05-05T16:15:10+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-05-05T18:32:19+00:00","og_image":[{"width":365,"height":364,"url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/PODCASTE-COVER-IRON-FIST-SMILE-SMALLER-FOR-FEATURED-Picture-423-e1643746133357.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Jim","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@jimbovard","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jim","Est. reading time":"10 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/05\/political-slavery-in-our-times\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/05\/political-slavery-in-our-times\/"},"author":{"name":"Jim","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f"},"headline":"Political Slavery in Our Times","datePublished":"2025-05-05T16:15:10+00:00","dateModified":"2025-05-05T18:32:19+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/05\/political-slavery-in-our-times\/"},"wordCount":2085,"commentCount":1,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/05\/political-slavery-in-our-times\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/PODCASTE-COVER-IRON-FIST-SMILE-SMALLER-FOR-FEATURED-Picture-423-e1643746133357.jpg","keywords":["american revolution","Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC)","Congress","COVID","East Germany","Etienne de la Boetie","Freedom","H.R. McMaster","Haldeman","John Locke","John Phillip Reid","Kissinger","Lyndon Johnson","McNamara","nixon","Romania","slavery","vietnam","World Economic Forum"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/05\/political-slavery-in-our-times\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/05\/political-slavery-in-our-times\/","url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/05\/political-slavery-in-our-times\/","name":"Political Slavery in Our Times - James Bovard","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/05\/political-slavery-in-our-times\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/05\/political-slavery-in-our-times\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/PODCASTE-COVER-IRON-FIST-SMILE-SMALLER-FOR-FEATURED-Picture-423-e1643746133357.jpg","datePublished":"2025-05-05T16:15:10+00:00","dateModified":"2025-05-05T18:32:19+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f"},"description":"When government power is unlimited, people become political slaves regardless of the rhetoric of the regime","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/05\/political-slavery-in-our-times\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/05\/political-slavery-in-our-times\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/05\/political-slavery-in-our-times\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/PODCASTE-COVER-IRON-FIST-SMILE-SMALLER-FOR-FEATURED-Picture-423-e1643746133357.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/PODCASTE-COVER-IRON-FIST-SMILE-SMALLER-FOR-FEATURED-Picture-423-e1643746133357.jpg","width":365,"height":364},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/05\/political-slavery-in-our-times\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Political Slavery in Our Times"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/","name":"James Bovard","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f","name":"Jim","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r","caption":"Jim"},"description":"Bovard's homepage is at http:\/\/www.jimbovard.com He can be contacted at jim@jimbovard.com James Bovard is the author of ten books. The Wall Street Journal called Bovard \"the roving inspector general of the modern state\" and Washington Post columnist George Will called him a \"one-man truth squad.\" His 1994 book, Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty, received the Free Press Association\u2019s Mencken Award as Book of the Year. His Terrorism & Tyranny won the Lysander Spooner \"Best Book on Liberty in 2003\" award. He received the Thomas Szasz Award for Civil Liberties work, awarded by the Center for Independent Thought and the Freedom Fund Award from the Firearms Civil Rights Defense Fund of the National Rifle Association. Bovard\u2019s writings have been publicly denounced by FBI director Louis Freeh, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Postmaster General, and the chiefs of the U.S. International Trade Commission, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as well as by many congressmen and other malcontents.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.jimbovard.com","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jim.bovard","https:\/\/x.com\/jimbovard"],"url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21474"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21474\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21594,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21474\/revisions\/21594"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}