Not only am I on Twitter and Facebook now, but this is entry #1215 on my blog! Why is 1215 significant, you ask? 1215 means Magna Carta, of course! It was the first time in the history of English law that the citizens had pressed upon the king a contract limiting his powers, rather than waiting for the king to simply proclaim what he would or would not do (guided by tradition, if you’re lucky).
Contracts before government. Voluntary agreements before traditionalist coercion. The rest is history -- and not coincidentally the best eight centuries humanity has known.
Without the tradition of limited government that followed, we might well have ended up with politics as incoherent as those of the Libertarian National Socialist Green Party (their Robert Lindstrom essay about "bunglers" is sort of amusing, or at least the accompanying photo).
But tomorrow: a monthly Book Selections entry that reveals how the Old Left sees modern America (it’s heartening how depressed they are) and a book on how to disappear when you decide you just can’t fit into the system at all anymore.
P.S. Speaking of the Middle Ages, by the way, remember that our Friday speaker at Lolita Bar (March 4, at 7pm), David Friedman, is not only an economist but a recreational medievalist and Icelandic poetry buff. You wouldn’t want to miss it if he recites something about a blood feud, would you?
1 comment:
Aren't the links to the Black Panther Party AND the BNP a bit contradictory?
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