"There are men, in all ages, who mean to exercise power usefully; but who mean to exercise it. They mean to govern well; but they mean to govern. They promise to be kind masters; but they mean to be masters." Daniel Webster

Saturday, April 10, 2010

A Golden Age of Liberty

Jacob Hornberger responds to David Boaz.

Will Wilkinson jumps in.

Stephen Bainbridge says Wilkinson's naivete is cute.

And Arnold Kling has the final word.

I appreciate Boaz's warnings not to mythologize the past. i'm less certain that Will Wilkinson and Brink Lindsay have anythign valuable to say about anything. For the better part of 50 years, libertarians have tried to reach out to the left, and they don't have a whole lot to show for it. And I'm not sure that demoninzing middle-class, middle-age white folks as Wilkinson insists on doing will help the cause of freedom. But I guess it will make the Cato folks feel cooler.

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