John Markley's Columns
"The state by its nature continually violates the moral norms that otherwise govern people, so it could not survive unless people believed, if only implicitly, that the state is more than human." Column by John Markley.
" What, more than anything else, was Ford praised for in the days after he died? Pardoning Richard Nixon for obstruction of justice and for any other crimes he may have committed while in office. In other words, Ford was a great president because he put former President Nixon above the laws that us commoners follow." Column by John Markley.
"If every president is great in retrospect, then our system of government seems infallible. No matter how bad things are now, no matter how incompetent or unjust our rulers may seem, we are encouraged to believe that it will turn out to be for the best. Sure, the system may sometimes seem unjust, oppressive, or exploitative, and our rulers may seem corrupt, venal, or immoral, but if you examine history, you’ll see that in fact our leaders were always right about the big questions. Thus, confidence in the state is maintained." Column by John Markley.
"...virtually everyone save for criminals believes in a basically libertarian ethic in their private lives--they would not dream of robbing, murdering, or violently dominating another, and would be outraged if another did this to them....But in politics, everything changes, and most things that are considered basic moral decency in private life go out the window. Why?" Column by John Markley.
The Art of Libertarian Persuasion
"Liberty needs every supporter it can get, however, and the left represents a resource that has gone largely untapped thus far." Column by John Markley.
"The state and its works serve as a sort of substitute (or supplement) religion for some people." Column by John Markley.
"If the state performs its functions well, that is proof that we need the state. If the state performs its functions poorly, the resulting misery is, we are told, also proof that the state is needed." Column by John Markley.
"Who wouldn't enjoy being told that they are so much smarter than their fellows that they have a right, or even a duty, to rule them? Who wouldn't like to believe that everyone desperately needs them, that the well-being of humanity depends on them?" Column by John Markley.
"If the state is truly such an indispensable teacher of morality, then claiming that you didn’t know you shouldn’t engage in torture because you were never ordered not to do it makes perfect sense. The soldier who claims he didn’t know any better is not some freakish aberration; he is the natural citizen of a state that tries to cripple individual capacity for moral judgment." Column by John Markley.
"It is this sort of arrogance that helps fuel the supposedly 'caring' souls who demand that we be dominated by them for our own good. The reality of these issues--that most people are not psychotic criminals waiting to strike, that most people want the best for their children, that most people refrain from spending their days passed out from heroin because they know it’s dangerous and irresponsible, not out of fear of prison--cannot penetrate the warm, self-righteous glow that comes from the certainty that you’re vastly better than everyone else." Column by new Root Striker John Markley.