Give me liberty or give me death. -- Patrick Henry, 1775
Give the enemy a timetable for our surrender. -- U.S. Senate, 2005
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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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- Where's the Outrage?
- Roger Scruton at Right Reason
- Privacy, Autonomy, and Responsibility
- The Cynics Debate While Babies Die
- Substantive Due Process, Liberty of Contract, and ...
- More on Abortion and Crime
- Libertarianism and Preemptive War: Part II
- Christmas Movies
- Thanksgiving
- Taxes, Charitable Giving, and Republicanism
- Ghosts of Thanksgivings Past
- The Original Meaning of the Ninth Amendment
- Some Thoughts about Liberty
- Oh, *That* Liberal Media
- Red vs. Blue Charity
- Abortion and the Slippery Slope
- The Faces of Appeasement
- Conservatism and Capitalism
- Double Jeopardy, in Disguise
- A New Constitution, Revised
- It's All Truman's Fault
- Oxymorons at Work
- Workplace Whiners
- Your Point Is?
- The UN and the Internet
- Then and Now
- Political Taxonomies
- A Baseless Debate
- Bad Law Makes for Bad Consequences
- Metaphor du Jour
- Understanding Introverts
- The Next Winner of the World Series?
- How to End the Postal Monopoly
- Joe Stiglitz, Ig-Nobelist
- Armistice Day
- Much Ado about Donning
- Making San Francisco Safer for Our Enemies
- Surrender-Monkeys, Redux
- Making an Exception
- Oh, *That* Slippery Slope
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- Don't Just Take My Word for It
- Understanding Outsourcing
- Oh, *That* Privacy Right
- Piracy and Global Warming
- Marriage and Children
- Equal Time: The Sequel
- Twenty-Five Years Ago Today . . .
- A Memo to France
- Not a Good Proponent of Same-Sex Marriage
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