"The Liberty of Man, in Society, is to be under no other Legislative Power, but that established, by consent, in the Common-wealth, nor under the Dominion of any Will, or Restraint of any Law, but what the Legislative shall enact, according to the Trust put in it" (Bk II, Chap IV, Sec 22).
BK: Note there is no requirement that the Legislative enact only that which is consistent with Natural Liberty. The requirement here is that the legislative power is established by consent and is constrained by the "Trust" placed in it, presumably to keep the terms of the agreement.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Natural Liberty
"The Natural Liberty of Man is to be free from any Superior Power on Earth, and not to be under the Will or Legislative Authority of Man, but to have only the Law of Nature for his Rule."
Locke, The Second Treatise of Government, Bk. II, Chap IV, Sec 22.
BK: I just want to put this up for pondering for a day because I am not sure how well it fits with, or relates to, what follows in this chapter.
Locke, The Second Treatise of Government, Bk. II, Chap IV, Sec 22.
BK: I just want to put this up for pondering for a day because I am not sure how well it fits with, or relates to, what follows in this chapter.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Benham, Frederic, and Boddy, F.M.
Benham, Frederic, and Boddy, F.M. Principles of Economics. Piman. 1947.
A textbook intended for an introductory course, to provide "the simple tools of modern economic analysis." Considerable attention is also given to the effects of government intervention upon a capitalistic system.
A textbook intended for an introductory course, to provide "the simple tools of modern economic analysis." Considerable attention is also given to the effects of government intervention upon a capitalistic system.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Modern Liberty
Those considering whether to purchase Charles Fried's new book may find this review in the New York Times interesting. The publisher's summary can be found here.
I have just purchased the book and will enter my two cents after I have read it.
Charles Fried, Modern Liberty and the Limits of Government, W.W. Norton & Company, 2007, 217 pp.
I have just purchased the book and will enter my two cents after I have read it.
Charles Fried, Modern Liberty and the Limits of Government, W.W. Norton & Company, 2007, 217 pp.
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Benda, Julien
Benda, Julien. The Treason of the Intellectuals. Morrow. 1928. 244 pp.
This celebrated book first appeared in France under the title La Trahison des clercs. "That the intellectuals of the world have sold out to utilitarianism, leaving their proper devotion to truth and humanity, is the theme of Julien Benda's scorching analysis of the current leaders of thought. By taking on political passions, the intellectuals have played the game of the state, espoused war and conflict and lost that universalism which is their true reason for existence." - World Tomorrow.
Greatly needed today is a study with a title and theme similar to Benda's, which would not only cover developments in the twenty-five years since his book appeared, and describe the intellectual and sometimes quite literal treachery of some present-day physical scientists, but would cover the whole drift of our literateurs and other intellectual leaders over the last three-quarters of a century into a sentimental socialism - including Bernard Shaw, H.G. Wells, and the Webbs in England, Anatole France in France, and the corresponding figures in Germany and America. It would be important to analyze not merely individual figures but the mob psychology of our modern intellectuals and the ease with which they were blown about by the fashionable winds of doctrine.
BK: I do not like this type of critique. While individuals can sell out, it has been my experience that intellectuals believe what they believe to be true or right. No one sold out to utilitarianism anymore than they sold out to Kantianism. Furthermore, to claim someone believes in something simply because it is fashionable is to avoid the issue by calling someone a simpleton. This type of critique is not a critique at all. It assumes what needs to be proven - here that socialism is untenable. Furthermore, it assumes that the theory is so wrong, the only way to explain intellectual support is by nuanced references to payoffs and shallowness of character. The astute reader will notice that both of these claims are being levied against libertarian intellectuals today.
This celebrated book first appeared in France under the title La Trahison des clercs. "That the intellectuals of the world have sold out to utilitarianism, leaving their proper devotion to truth and humanity, is the theme of Julien Benda's scorching analysis of the current leaders of thought. By taking on political passions, the intellectuals have played the game of the state, espoused war and conflict and lost that universalism which is their true reason for existence." - World Tomorrow.
Greatly needed today is a study with a title and theme similar to Benda's, which would not only cover developments in the twenty-five years since his book appeared, and describe the intellectual and sometimes quite literal treachery of some present-day physical scientists, but would cover the whole drift of our literateurs and other intellectual leaders over the last three-quarters of a century into a sentimental socialism - including Bernard Shaw, H.G. Wells, and the Webbs in England, Anatole France in France, and the corresponding figures in Germany and America. It would be important to analyze not merely individual figures but the mob psychology of our modern intellectuals and the ease with which they were blown about by the fashionable winds of doctrine.
BK: I do not like this type of critique. While individuals can sell out, it has been my experience that intellectuals believe what they believe to be true or right. No one sold out to utilitarianism anymore than they sold out to Kantianism. Furthermore, to claim someone believes in something simply because it is fashionable is to avoid the issue by calling someone a simpleton. This type of critique is not a critique at all. It assumes what needs to be proven - here that socialism is untenable. Furthermore, it assumes that the theory is so wrong, the only way to explain intellectual support is by nuanced references to payoffs and shallowness of character. The astute reader will notice that both of these claims are being levied against libertarian intellectuals today.
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Beck, James Montgomery
Beck, James Montgomery. Our Wonderland of Bureaucracy. Macmillan. 1933. 290 pp.
A study, by a former Solicitor General of the United States, of the growth of bureaucracy in the federal government, and its destructive effect upon the Constitution.
A study, by a former Solicitor General of the United States, of the growth of bureaucracy in the federal government, and its destructive effect upon the Constitution.
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