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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.
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- The Pandemics Are Coming
- Handy Latin Phrases
- Tinseltown Is in a Funk
- Libertarianism is Evil...
- But War Isn't the Answer
- The Alternative to Nullification
- Bad News for Enviro-nuts
- Same Old Story, Same Old Song and Dance
- A Crime Is a Crime
- I Can't Help Myself, So Sue You
- Peter Singer's Fallacy
- Property Rights with a Vengeance
- Bah, Humbug!
- Knee-Jerk Anti-Religionism
- Jill the Ripper?
- Is Nullification the Answer to Judicial Supremacy?
- Delicious Thoughts about Federalism
- Rather Faint Praise
- Calling a Thing What It Is
- The Greatest Good of the Greatest Number?
- The True Cost of Government: An Addendum
- Nicely Observed
- Escalating the Netwar
- Let 'Em Secede
- The Next Chief Justice?
- The Face of "Academc Freedom"
- Today's Entertainment Trivia
- Assimilation
- The Next Big Financial Disaster
- Good Medical Advice
- Conservative Revisionism, Conservative Backlash, o...
- A Day to Remember
- The Beginning of the End?
- Libertarian Name-Calling
- Europe, Take Note
- John Kerry: Ingrate
- Social Security -- Myth and Reality
- Too Rational for My Taste
- Flooding the Moral Low Ground
- Is It Time to Abolish the Electoral College?
- As I Was Saying
- Roadrunner vs. Coyote
- Handicapping National Politics
- A Victory of Sorts
- Good Advice for Libertarians
- PETA, NARAL, and Roe v. Wade
- How About Mandatory Corporal Punishment?
- Debasing the Language
- The Case for Devolved Government
- Defining Liberalism
- Round Up the Usual Balderdash
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- Absolute Rubbish
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- The Republican Era Continues
- How'd I Do?
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- Time to Retire the Fair Model
- I Told You So
- The Real Social Security Issue
- Let's Talk about Intelligence
- Yeah, But What Does He Know?
- Seeing the Handwriting
- French Hypocrisy of a Welcome Kind
- A Pleasant Surprise
- One More Reason to Vote for Bush
- The Eeyore Party
- Red State, Blue State
- A Reason to Like Tom Wolfe
- "Forgiving" Youthful Error
- Final Election Projections
- In the "Old News" Department
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