skip to main |
skip to sidebar
My New Blog
Timeless Posts
On Liberty
John Stuart Mill opined that "the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others." But who determines whether an act is harmful or harmless? Acts deemed harmless by an individual are not harmless if they subvert the societal bonds of trust and self-restraint upon which liberty itself depends. Which is not to say that all social regimes are regimes of liberty. Liberty requires voice -- the freedom to dissent -- and exit -- the freedom to choose one's neighbors and associates. Voice and exit depend, in turn, on the rule of law under a minimal central government, such as the one envisioned by the Framers of our Constitution. Liberty, because it is a social phenomenon and not an innate condition of humanity, must be won and preserved by staunchly and unflinchingly defending the nation and through the swift and certain administration of justice.
Blog Archive
-
►
2008
(186)
- ► April 2008 (35)
- ► March 2008 (39)
- ► February 2008 (34)
- ► January 2008 (41)
-
►
2007
(241)
- ► December 2007 (39)
- ► November 2007 (31)
- ► October 2007 (56)
- ► September 2007 (43)
- ► August 2007 (39)
- ► April 2007 (1)
- ► March 2007 (1)
- ► February 2007 (1)
- ► January 2007 (5)
-
►
2006
(420)
- ► November 2006 (11)
- ► October 2006 (25)
- ► September 2006 (33)
- ► August 2006 (41)
- ► April 2006 (40)
- ► March 2006 (53)
- ► February 2006 (51)
- ► January 2006 (51)
-
►
2005
(439)
- ► December 2005 (48)
- ► November 2005 (54)
- ► October 2005 (26)
- ► September 2005 (41)
- ► August 2005 (30)
- ► April 2005 (34)
- ► March 2005 (50)
- ► February 2005 (32)
- ► January 2005 (18)
-
▼
2004
(743)
- ► December 2004 (21)
- ► November 2004 (73)
- ► October 2004 (128)
-
▼
September 2004
(176)
- A Profile of the Past
- Back to Baseball -- Hyping the Heros
- Speaking of the New Washington Baseball Team...
- Subsidizing Multi-millionaires
- "Sick" Isn't the Right Word...
- Thinking Ahead to '08
- Dribble from Drabble
- Kerry's Slave-Labor Plan and Shell Game
- I Demand a Recount
- Reveries
- On the Eve of the First Debate
- What's Wrong with Canada?
- How to Write a Headline about Iraq
- Baseball in the Nation's Capital
- Junk-Food Addict
- Democracy vs. Liberty
- Fear of Corporate Power
- Libertarians and Individualism
- Perfect Understanding
- Carter's Election Strategy
- Race and Acceptance
- Epstein's Freedom, Revisited
- Time Out for Baseball
- Lileks Nails the Sunday Times Set
- Fighting Myths with Facts
- Determination
- Defense, Anarcho-Capitalist Style
- Epstein's Freedom
- What's a "Doozy"?
- Recommended Reading
- Don't Le(f)t the Facts Confuse You
- In the "Stupid Headline" Department
- A Very Telling Profile of Kerry
- Speaking of V-8s...
- A Prescription for Pork-Barrel Spending
- More on the Legality of Discrimination
- The Curse of the Bambino
- Speaking of Obesity...
- From Smoking to Fast Food
- I Shoulda Had a V-8, Too
- More about Libertarian Hawks and Doves
- Speaking of Discrimination...
- Is There Such a Thing as Legal Discrimination?
- Repeat This Until You Understand It
- Florida Supremes Make a Tough Call
- A Logic Puzzle from the Left
- Why Don't They Do Something Challenging?
- Saving the Electoral College
- DeLay, a Headliner in Austin
- Outrageous Headline du Jour
- Tit-for-Tat on the Left
- That's It, Exactly
- Creeping Euthanasia
- Reassessing the Man from Ohio
- Isn't Chicago a "Liberal" Stronghold?
- Why Class Warfare Is Bad for Everyone
- Austin's "Humor" Columnist at Work
- I Wish It Were Thus
- Kerry Does It Again
- The Great Divide Is a Great Thing
- Pity Poor Dan Rather
- What Are These People Thinking?
- A Cool Find
- Neolibertarians are Happier
- More Suppression of Dissent
- The World According to Journalists
- More about Neolibertarianism
- Speaking of Offensive War...This Is Wrong
- Understanding Libertarian Hawks
- Time to Regulate the Blogosphere?
- Moral Relativism, or Something Like It
- Scary Stuff -- Revisited
- Neolibertarianism
- Wisdom for America-Haters -- Foreign and Domestic
- Here's Another Way to Skin the Cat
- Understanding the Latest Intelligence Estimate for...
- Judicial Interpretation
- Isn't That What I Said?
- Good Questions about RatherGate
- The Bush National Guard Document Forgeries: A Lone...
- Memo to CBS News: Quit While You're Behind
- A Bulletin from CBS News
- The Origin of Rights and the Essence of Modern Lib...
- Validated by the Wall Street Journal
- More Old Presidents
- Intellectuals, Academia, and the "Common" Person
- Here's What a Real Nazi Does
- As I Was Saying....
- Why Sovereignty?
- Paul Krugman, an Inspiration to Us All
- More Wisdom from Lileks
- Rather's Last Stand -- Shot to Pieces
- A Story That Makes Me See Red (Ink)
- Message to Democrats: Get Over It
- How to Fight Crime
- The Politics of Gun Control in Action
- A Bit of Sense and a Lot of Nonsense from Austin
- Catastrophe Theory at Work
- Me, Too
- Conservative Criticism of the War on Terror
- ► August 2004 (144)
- ► April 2004 (28)
- ► March 2004 (37)
Categories
- Academic Freedom - Civil Liberties - Privacy (144)
- Affirmative Action - Immigration - Race (94)
- Art and Architecture (3)
- Baseball and Lesser Sports (52)
- Blogs - Bloggers - Blogging (61)
- Climate Change and Environmentalism (53)
- Conservatism and True Libertarianism (66)
- Conshttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.giftitution - Courts - Law - Justice (1)
- Constitution - Courts - Law - Justice (291)
- Economics: Principles and Issues (316)
- Enemies: Foreign and Domestic (116)
- Health and Health Care (20)
- History (70)
- Humor - Satire - Wry Commentary (63)
- Intelligence - Personality - Psychology (99)
- Language - Literature - Movies - Music (93)
- Leftism - Statism - Democracy (416)
- Liberty - Libertarianism - Rights (305)
- Management (24)
- Media Matters (73)
- Nature (4)
- Nostalgia - Trivia - Popular Culture (66)
- Philosophy - Religion - Science - Pseudoscience (134)
- Politics - Politicians - Government in Action (320)
- Public Education and Homeschooling (15)
- Self Ownership: Abortion - Euthanasia - Gender - Etc. (71)
- Self Ownhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifership: Abortion - Euthanasia - Gender - Etc. (1)
- Thinkers: Famous and Infamous (163)
- War - Peace - Foreign Affairs (291)