All Posts Tagged With: "Roman Empire"
“What Sort of Despotism Democratic Nations Have to Fear”
I took that title from volume 2, section 4, chapter 6 of Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America (1840). Considering what has been happening legislatively (and not just in the last year-plus), it seems like a good time to revisit Tocqueville’s writing about democratic despotism. He notes that despotism in a constitutional republic would be [...]
20May2010 | Sheldon Richman | 2 comments | ContinuedRome and America: The Ideology of Decline
Writing in 1835, Alexis de Tocqueville attributed the United States’ commercial success to American merchants’ willingness to face uncertainty and danger. Europeans, he said, wait for good weather and return to port if the ship is damaged; the American “departs while the tempest still roars . . . while on the go, he repairs his [...]
1May2004 | Harold B. Jones Jr. | 0 comments | ContinuedWe Have Yet to Learn
Mr. MacDonald, a trustee of The Foundation for Economic Education, resides in Issaquah, Washington. The ideas of man, expressed in one way or another, have come down to us over and over again for the past 50 centuries. As we approach the twenty-first century, it is almost impossible to come up with an original thought. [...]
1Mar1997 | Gregg MacDonald | 0 comments | ContinuedMarcus Tullius Cicero, Who Gave Natural Law to the Modern World
He insisted on the primacy of moral standards over government laws. These standards became known as natural law. Above all, Cicero declared, government is morally obliged to protect human life and private property. When government runs amok, people have a right to rebel—Cicero honored daring individuals who helped overthrow tyrants.
1Jan1997 | Jim Powell | 40 comments | ContinuedAncient Lessons
Mr. Maccaro practices law on Long Island, New York. The history of ancient Rome repeatedly demonstrates the connection between low taxes and prosperity. It also shows the connection between confiscatory taxes and political and social unrest. As the Roman empire expanded, so did the emperors’ appetites for revenue. Taxes reached the point that most people [...]
1Aug1996 | James A. Maccaro | 1 comment | Continued-
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