The essential characteristic of Western civilization that distinguishes it from the arrested and petrified civilizations of the East was and is its concern for freedom from the state. The history of the West, from the age of the Greek polis down to the present-day resistance to socialism, is essentially the history of the fight for liberty against the encroachments of the officeholders.
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It is easy to take liberty for granted when you have never had it taken from you.
It is easy to take liberty for granted when you have never had it taken from you.
Democracy is when the indigent, and not the men of property, are the rulers.
Democracy is when the indigent, and not the men of property, are the rulers.
While rationalism at the individual level is a plea for more personal autonomy from cultural norms, at the social level read more
While rationalism at the individual level is a plea for more personal autonomy from cultural norms, at the social level it is often a claim- or arrogation- of power to stifle the autonomy of others.
If the small minority of enlightened citizens who are able to conceive sound principles of political management do not succeed read more
If the small minority of enlightened citizens who are able to conceive sound principles of political management do not succeed in winning the support of their fellow citizens and converting them to the endorsement of policies that bring and preserve prosperity, the cause of mankind and civilization is hopeless. There is no other means to safeguard a propitious development of human affairs than to make the masses of inferior people adopt the ideas of the elite. This has to be achieved by convincing them. It cannot be accomplished by a despotic regime that instead of enlightening the masses beats them into submission. In the long run the ideas of the majority, however detrimental they may be, will carry on. The future of mankind depends on the ability of the elite to influence public opinion in the right direction.
Politics is the conduct of public affairs for private advantage.
Politics is the conduct of public affairs for private advantage.
Fascism is capitalism in decay.
Fascism is capitalism in decay.
There is no such thing as a nonpolitical speech by a politician.
There is no such thing as a nonpolitical speech by a politician.
Politics, as a practice, whatever its professions, has always been the
systematic organization of hatreds.
Politics, as a practice, whatever its professions, has always been the
systematic organization of hatreds.
There is nothing an economist should fear so much as applause.
There is nothing an economist should fear so much as applause.
