{"id":2211,"date":"2010-11-10T12:25:21","date_gmt":"2010-11-10T17:25:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/?p=2211"},"modified":"2010-11-10T12:25:56","modified_gmt":"2010-11-10T17:25:56","slug":"statism-the-greatest-threat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2010\/11\/10\/statism-the-greatest-threat\/","title":{"rendered":"Statism, the Greatest Threat"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>From the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.fff.org\"><strong>Future of Freedom Foundation&#8217;s <\/strong><\/a>Freedom Daily (August 2010 issue, posted<a href=\"http:\/\/www.fff.org\/freedom\/fd1008c.asp\"> <strong>online<\/strong><\/a> today&#8230;)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Statism, the Greatest Threat<\/strong><br \/>\nby James Bovard<\/p>\n<p>Pervasive confusion over the nature of government and freedom has opened the gates to perhaps the greatest, most widespread increase in political power in history. If we are to regain and safeguard our liberty, we must reject the tenets of modern political thinking. We must repudiate the moral presumptions and prerogatives that allow some people to vastly expand their power over other people.<\/p>\n<p>The State has been by far the largest recipient of intellectual charity during the past hundred years. The issue of government coercion has been taken off the radar screen of politically correct thought. The more government power has grown, the more unfashionable it becomes to discuss or recognize government abuses <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From the Future of Freedom Foundation&#8217;s Freedom Daily (August 2010 issue, posted online today&#8230;) Statism, the Greatest Threat by James Bovard Pervasive confusion over the nature of government and freedom has opened the gates to perhaps the greatest, most widespread increase in political power in history. If we are to regain and safeguard our liberty, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[659,22,658,677,7,656,17,45,673,657],"class_list":{"0":"post-2211","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"hentry","6":"tag-attention-deficit-democracy","8":"tag-congress","9":"tag-democracy","10":"tag-dictatorship","12":"tag-elective-dictatorship","13":"tag-freedom","15":"tag-rule-of-law"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Statism, the Greatest Threat - James Bovard<\/title>\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\/2010\/11\/10\/statism-the-greatest-threat\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Statism, the Greatest Threat - James Bovard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"From the Future of Freedom Foundation&#8217;s Freedom Daily (August 2010 issue, posted online today&#8230;) Statism, the Greatest Threat by James Bovard Pervasive confusion over the nature of government and freedom has opened the gates to perhaps the greatest, most widespread increase in political power in history. 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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 &amp; 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. 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