Political Theory

Pat Buchanan’s remarkable book expresses a distinctively nationalist thesis; and, as a conscientious reviewer in good standing, I shall of course say something about it. 

To make a transition from statism to the market economy means a complete revolution in economic and political life, writes Lew Rockwell, from one where the state and its interests rule to a system where the power of the state plays no role. Freedom is not a public-policy option. It is the end of public policy itself.

Like mafioso John Gotti, the state uses the threat of coercion to extort money from citizens, writes William Anderson. Unlike Gotti, who never would have dreamed of demanding nearly half of a firm's profits, the state takes more than 40 percent of what a business collects over its costs.

Based on the record of deceit documented by Robert Caro in his book The Years of Lyndon Johnson: Master of the Senate, Lyndon Baines Johnson was an evil man even before his disastrous presidency--a presidency in which he and his minions misled Americans into the Vietnam War, a presidency that nearly caused a civil war in this country.

"The myth of Lincoln cannot stand up under scrutiny," says Thomas DiLorenzo, "and after all these years, the word is finally getting out." Mises.org interviews DiLorenzo on his new book and its thesis that Lincoln's legacy was not freedom but the consolidated state. The book's high sales are as notable as the explosive controversy that has erupted about his thesis. 

Since 1997, the federal government's office space has expanded by 280 million square feet. The average American family homestead is 2,100 square feet. The massive Empire State building fills 2.1 million feet. Thus, in only five years the federal government's physical size has grown by 134,000 single family homes or 90 Empire State Buildings.

The socialist left of Britain has targeted the House of Lords for radical reform and reconstruction. Alberto Mingardi defends the institution which is, despite its problems, something of a check on government power--at least that's been its traditional role. Democratic reform can only make the House of Lords more docile.

Arthur Andersen's transgressions have opened the doors to unbridled regulatory madness, writes Karen De Coster. The effect of legislation (like CARTA) will be to replace the  oversight bodies that currently watch over the accounting profession with regulators who will do an even worse job of it. 

I had been waiting for the neocon reaction to the spectacular new Lucas film, Star Wars, Part 2: Attack of the Clones. Here we have an aggressive allegory of the current American problem (actually a problem that dates back, perhaps, two centuries): a once-free Republic has become an increasingly evil Empire. As the Empire grows it both inspires and foments rebellion, here and abroad, which provides a further excuse for consolidating power in the center.

In a recent article, New York Times writer Paul Krugman puts out a clever analysis of state demographics. He alleges that the pro-Bush states have more crime, divorce, single moms and net-tax eaters than the pro-Gore states. Krugman's analytic knife, however, doesn’t cut deeply enough to get to the truth of the matter.