[expressing John Locke's view]...whenever anyone threatens any other innocent human in a way that makes manifest an ignorance or disregard of the fundamental equality as regards the right to self-preservation, the creature in human shape who acts in this way is to be treated by any and all other rational humans as a wild, clever, and therefore very dangerous animal, to be destroyed (if necessary) in order to safeguard the rest.
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Commencement speakers have a good deal in common with grandfather clocks: Standing usually some six feet tall, typically ponderous in read more
Commencement speakers have a good deal in common with grandfather clocks: Standing usually some six feet tall, typically ponderous in construction, more traditional than functional, their distinction is largely their noisy communication of essentially commonplace information.
The notion of a farseeing and despotic statesman, who can lay down plans for ages yet unborn, is a fancy read more
The notion of a farseeing and despotic statesman, who can lay down plans for ages yet unborn, is a fancy generated by the pride of the human intellect to which facts give no support.
When the president does it, that means it is not illegal.
When the president does it, that means it is not illegal.
The jury has a right to judge both the law as well as the fact in controversy.
The jury has a right to judge both the law as well as the fact in controversy.
I have not yet begun to fight!
I have not yet begun to fight!
Inflation is as violent as a mugger, as frightening as an armed robber and as deadly as a hit man.
Inflation is as violent as a mugger, as frightening as an armed robber and as deadly as a hit man.
The idea that the sole aim of punishment is to prevent crime is obviously grounded upon the theory that crime read more
The idea that the sole aim of punishment is to prevent crime is obviously grounded upon the theory that crime can be prevented, which is almost as dubious as the notion that poverty can be prevented.
...the case for individual freedom rests largely on the recognition of the inevitable and universal ignorance of all of us read more
...the case for individual freedom rests largely on the recognition of the inevitable and universal ignorance of all of us concerning a great many of the factors on which the achievements of our ends and welfare depend.
It is the very essence of despotism that it can never afford to fail. This is what distinguishes it most read more
It is the very essence of despotism that it can never afford to fail. This is what distinguishes it most vitally from democracy. In a despotism there is no organized opposition which can take over the power when the Administration in office has failed. All the eggs are in one basket. Everything is staked on one coterie of men. When the going is good, they move more quickly and efficiently than democracies, where the opposition has to be persuaded and conciliated. But when they lose, there are no reserves. There are no substitutes on the bench ready to go out on the field and carry the ball. That is why democracies with the habit of party government have outlived all other forms of government in the modern world. They have, as it were, at least two governments always at hand, and when one fails they have the other. They have diversified the risks of mortality, corruption, and stupidity which pervade all human affairs. They have remembered that the most beautifully impressive machine cannot run for very long unless there is available a complete supply of spare parts.
