James Bovard
James Bovard
James Bovardis a libertarian author and lecturer whose political commentary targets examples of waste, failures, corruption, cronyism and abuses of power in government. He is the author of Attention Deficit Democracy, and eight other books. He has written for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, New Republic, Reader's Digest, The American Conservative, and many other publications. His books have been translated into Spanish, Arabic, Japanese, and Korean...
ProfessionAuthor
government one-day noble
If an election is simply a one-day snapshot of transient mass delusions, then this is not a very noble form of government.
dark night average
For the average person walking down a dark street late at night, a promise from a politician is worth far less than a .38 Special.
moving government average
To blindly trust government is to automatically vest it with excessive power. To distrust government is simply to trust humanity - to trust in the ability of average people to peacefully, productively coexist without some official policing their every move. The State is merely another human institution - less creative than Microsoft, less reliable than Federal Express, less responsible than the average farmer husbanding his land, and less prudent than the average citizen spending his own paycheck.
political vote politician
Dependency is the highest political good - at least for politicians. Since the 1930s, politicians have striven to leave no vote unbought.
government numbers people
Government aid programs have been endlessly expanded, and the government has sought to maximize the number of people willing to accept handouts..... Roughly half of all Americans are dependent on the government, either for handouts, pensions, or paychecks.
government numbers democracy
American democracy is capsizing as a result of the vast increase in the number of government dependents and government employees.
keys offering voters
The key question for many voters is: How much is the candidate offering for my vote?
government order numbers
The sheer number of government employees and welfare recipients effectively transforms the purpose of government from maintaining order to confiscating as much as possible from vulnerable taxpayers.
government liberty lists
The only things government can do are regulate and redistribute, prohibit and penalize, confiscate and command. Are these the things that liberty is made of? Somebody else's money and an endless list of Thou Shalt Nots?
government expansion moral
Once a person becomes a government dependent, his moral standing to resist the expansion of government power is fatally compromised.
numbers odds government
Not only has the number of government employees multiplied in recent decades, but the rise of government unions further stacks the political odds against private citizens.
government thieves aids
Foreign aid breeds kleptocracies, or governments of thieves.
law people democracy
Rather than a democracy, we increasingly have an elective dictatorship. People are merely permitted to choose who will violate the laws and the Constitution.
government dangerous loses
The more freedoms Americans lose, the more dangerous government becomes.