Political Theory

Presented to the Auburn University Libertarians; September 21, 2009.

There is no surer guide to the principles of political liberty than the Federalist Papers; no more penetrating and imaginative study of the forces that may wreck or sap liberty than de Tocqueville's great classic.

"No one has ever succeeded in the effort to demonstrate that unionism could improve the conditions and raise the standard of living of all those eager to earn wages."

"Law for Rousseau is essentially a device whereby those in possession protect themselves against the 'have-nots.'"

"The new democracy having inherited the power so long used against it, now shows every disposition to use that power as ruthlessly as any other governing organ ever has used it."

There was a German language edition of his profoundly influential General Theory late in 1936, for which Keynes wrote a special foreword addressed solely to German readers.

Then the welfare, the relief, the compensation, instead of being nationally sponsored cash prizes for idleness and ineptitude, could go where the old independent uncompromising fathers themselves would have intended it and blessed it.

Capitalism delivers the goods, and it does so in abundance. Interventionist alternatives do not.

If we look beneath the surface of our public affairs, we can discern one fundamental fact, namely, a great redistribution of power between society

The pleaders for statism insist that while all-powerful government might be inherently bad under a despot or dictator, it can be a perfectly wholes