lewrockwell.com — Most of the worst violations of liberty in American history were not conducted by extremists who grabbed power despite the majority?s more measured inclinations, but rather with the support of the masses. Extremists, knowing that they have little to lose with a regime over which they have no influence, are among the most likely to expose the state
Dec 13, 2006 View in Crawl 4
Closed AccountDec 13, 2006
How did totalitarianism come to be considered the moderate position?DEMOCRACY!Unfortunately, we no longer seem to be a Republic, where the representatives are supposed to be elected democratically but then SWEAR to uphold the Constitution. These days, everything is a vote. Should marijuana be legalized? Let's vote on it. What about raising taxes for Light Rail to everywhere? Let's vote on it. Or the State regulating everything from marriage to health care and education? Let's vote on it. Who cares about the minority vote, the Constitution is an old piece of paper. And while we are at it, let's push this mob rule, er I mean democracy onto other countries as well.
jeffdaiellDec 13, 2006
What's worse is the use of "extremist" as interchangeable with "militant" or "violent", which is infuriating given that pacificism, whether right or wrong, is pretty extreme. -- Jeff Daiell
jeffiekDec 13, 2006
@LibberKeyI think I got his point. The author of the article overlooked that pacifists aren't a threat of any kind, yet they are still extremists. I have to agree that the article implied that all forms of extremism are bad, but this is not the case as pointed out by JeffDaiell. I would also include libertarians and anarchists as not presenting a danger.
ryebryeDec 13, 2006
Thank goodness extremists like Hitler or Stalin never caused any harm, otherwise this guys argument would look incredibly stupid.