Liberalism

Totalitarian societies do not become that way overnight. There are recognizable signs and stages which show how a society slides into that abyss.

Conventional wisdom tells us the liberal democracies are the most peace-loving nations. But the record tells us something else.

Ryan McMaken and historian Larsen Plyler talk about how the Americans of the 1770s envisioned a new community of independent and sovereign states. The first constitution made this clear. But then the new counterrevolutionaries like Hamilton wrote a new constitution designed to create one big national state with vast new powers.

Statists denounce self defense as “vigilantism,” declaring that only the “defense” services provided by the state are legitimate. Yet, self defense has always been a fundamental right.

Although some scholars have labeled the early Ming Dynasty as a proto-liberal state, they are mistaken. The Ming governance at that time was weak, not limited by law and ideology.

Although some scholars have labeled the early Ming Dynasty as a proto-liberal state, they are mistaken. The Ming governance at that time was weak, not limited by law and ideology.

Conservatives may protest at first, but ultimately, they bring up the progressive rear to defend, and indeed celebrate, the new status quo.

Conflicts are not inherent in the operation of an unhampered market economy. There are conflicts between citizens because the government steps in and gives special privileges to some and not to others.

National Review’s purging of the John Birch Society was done because the Birchers began to turn against the Vietnam War.

While classical liberalism is preferable to socialism and interventionism, it is, at best, a halfway house to total freedom.