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Tolkien, on Government


"My political opinions lean more and more to Anarchy (philosophically understood, meaning abolition of control not whiskered men with bombs) – or to ‘unconstitutional’ Monarchy. "I would arrest anybody who uses the word State (in any sense other than the inanimate realm of England and its inhabitants, a thing that has neither power, rights nor mind); and after a chance of recantation, execute them if they remained obstinate! If we could get back to personal names, it would do a lot of good. "Government is an abstract noun meaning the art and process of governing and it should be an offence to write it with a capital G or so as to refer to people. If people were in the habit of referring to ‘King George’s council, Winston and his gang’, it would go a long way to clearing thought, and reducing the frightful landslide into Theyocracy. "Anyway the proper study of Man is anything but Man; and the most improper job of any man, even saints (who at any rate were at least unwilling to take it on), is bossing other men. Not one in a million is fit for it, and least of all those who seek the opportunity. And at least it is done only to a small group of men who know who their master is." — From a letter to Christopher Tolkien [from his father J.R.R. Tolkien] 29 November 1943 https://peacerequiresanarchy.wordpress.com/2012/09/21/the-letters-of-jrr-tolkien/

“My political opinions lean more and more to Anarchy (philosophically understood, meaning abolition of control not whiskered men with bombs) – or to ‘unconstitutional’ Monarchy. “I would arrest anybody who uses the word State (in any sense other than the inanimate realm of England and its inhabitants, a thing that has neither power, rights nor mind); and after a chance of recantation, execute them if they remained obstinate! If we could get back to personal names, it would do a lot of good. “Government is an abstract noun meaning the art and process of governing and it should be an offence to write it with a capital G or so as to refer to people. If people were in the habit of referring to ‘King George’s council, Winston and his gang’, it would go a long way to clearing thought, and reducing the frightful landslide into Theyocracy. “Anyway the proper study of Man is anything but Man; and the most improper job of any man, even saints (who at any rate were at least unwilling to take it on), is bossing other men. Not one in a million is fit for it, and least of all those who seek the opportunity. And at least it is done only to a small group of men who know who their master is.” — From a letter to Christopher Tolkien [from his father J.R.R. Tolkien] 29 November 1943 https://peacerequiresanarchy.wordpress.com/2012/09/21/the-letters-of-jrr-tolkien/

 
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Posted by on January 8, 2019 in Philosophy, Politics, society

 

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Government is, at Best, Evil <- Thomas Paine


Common Sense, the book advocating secession from the British empire and credited with starting the Revolution, was the top-selling book of the 18th century, globally.

Common Sense, the book advocating secession from the British empire and credited with starting the Revolution, was the top-selling book of the 18th century, globally.

Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.


Government, like dress, is the badge of lost innocence; the palaces of kings are built upon the ruins of the bowers of paradise.
Thomas Paine, Common Sense

 
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Posted by on September 29, 2009 in Politics

 

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Govern Yourself


Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is in prison -- Henry David ThoreauI heartily accept the motto, ‘That government is best which governs least’; and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which also I believe–‘That government is best which governs not at all’; and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have. Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience (1849)

 
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Posted by on September 16, 2009 in Politics

 

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Fewer Laws


The US Code, only a subset of all laws and regulations on the books today.   The US imprisons a higher percentage of its populace than Communist China does, more than Iran, more than did the Soviet Union, Saddam Hussein's Iraq, or the Taliban's Afghanistan.

The US Code, only a subset of all laws and regulations on the books today. The US imprisons a higher percentage of its populace than Communist China does, more than Iran, more than did the Soviet Union, Saddam Hussein's Iraq, or the Taliban's Afghanistan.

America needs fewer laws, not more prisons.

By trying to seize far more power than is necessary over American citizens, the federal government is destroying its own legitimacy.

We face a choice not of anarchy or authoritarianism, but a choice of limited government or unlimited government.

James Bovard, Lost Rights; The Destruction of American Liberty


But Now You Know

 
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Posted by on September 9, 2009 in Politics

 

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Taxing the Fruit of Your Labor


anarcho-capitalist worker symbolTaxation of earnings from labor is on a par with forced labor. Seizing the results of someone’s labor is equivalent to seizing hours from him and directing him to carry on various activities.
Robert Nozick, Anarchy, State, and Utopia


But Now You Know

Why Workers Dislike Unions

 
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Posted by on September 7, 2009 in economic, Politics

 

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