Today’s quote also comes from Auberon Herbert: Selected Writings from a Reluctant Anarachist. I find the title to be a bit of a misnomer as Herbert wasn’t an anarchist but rather was a firm believer in a limited form of government. In his view a proper government would not try to do everything for the citizens, but rather protect the rights of the citizens to act as reason dictated. That is the sense that comes across in today’s quote.
We need not have great state departments,
A question from Politix popped up for me today asking:
Do you wish there were more conservative Democrats and liberal Republicans around?
Here is my response:
I wish there were more radicals, yes radical, not moderate, for individual rights and liberty. When you talk of conservative Democrats or liberal Republicans you are essentially asking for people who believe it is ok to violate your rights, but just a little. This ignores the fact that any violation of rights leads inevitably to further
December last year I wrote a blog post in which I made the case that in the last several decades Republicans have more and more become pale versions of Democrats. I pointed out that while, during an election season at least, Republicans often use the rhetoric of protecting rights and limited government when it comes time to actually govern their policies are not very different from those of the Democrats. You can check the original post to see my arguments, which I still stand by.
One of the comments
On The Objective Standard blog yesterday there was a post on Auberon Herbert who was a 19th Century British political philosopher and advocate of personal liberty. For those who are fans of Ayn Rand, you will find much that is familiar to you in the words of this man who lived and worked decades before Atlas Shrugged. I encourage everyone to take the time to read it.
Being intrigued by what was offered in the blog post, I was very pleased to find that there are a couple of Herbert’s works