The State as God's Will
Duane Colyar
2018-06-08 00:00
Column by Duane Colyar.
Exclusive to STR
This column explores a common phenomenon that occurs when libertarians express their opinions regarding the state and its operating mechanism, the government. Most libertarian principles are anathema to mainstream political thought. However, some libertarian ideas challenge only the tenets of traditional conservatives while other libertarian ideas are...
Taking the Bull by the Tail
Duane Colyar
2011-06-08 00:00
Column by Duane Colyar.
Exclusive to STR
While reading news reports in a local daily that is now so small it would barely cover the bottom of a birdcage, my mind wandered over the dark scenes of modern-day America: endless wars of dubious constitutionality and military occupations spawning future wars; hit squads flying uninvited into a sovereign nation; the spectacle of police dressed in...
Skipping Down the Road to Serfdom
Duane Colyar
2010-12-29 04:00
Column by Duane Colyar.
Exclusive to STR
As noted by the author in a previous column, over 2,000 years ago the Greek philosopher and historian, Thucydides, wrote in the History of the Peloponnesian War that power, once granted, will always expand to control what it can. Recognizing the wisdom of Thucydides and other political philosophers, and knowing that concentrated power...
Thidwick, the Big-Hearted Libertarian
Duane Colyar
2010-11-05 03:00
Column by Duane Colyar.
Exclusive to STR
Over the years I’ve enjoyed introducing my children and grandchildren to the concept of liberty and the freedom-threatening hazards of the welfare-warfare state. This introduction has started when they were as young as three years old. The reader might ask, “How can this be? Children that young can’t...
Scaring Away the Alligators
Duane Colyar
2010-10-29 03:00
Column by Duane Colyar.
Exclusive to STR
Economic stimulus programs, which are akin to taking money out of the economy with one hand and putting it back into the economy with the other, work wonderfully--for politicians, that is. Taxpayer money can be channeled to buy the support of politically connected industries and groups. Accordingly, one can assume that politicians embrace the...
Voluntary and Peaceful
Duane Colyar
2010-09-09 03:00
By Duane Colyar.
Exclusive to STR
Early in his political career, Abraham Lincoln once described his politics as “short and sweet, like the old woman’s dance.” Without going into the ultimately disastrous consequences of many of Lincoln’s policies, it is fair to say that most readers of this daily forum also share a short and sweet political outlook--we...
Reflections on the Evolution of the Welfare-Warfare State
Duane Colyar
2010-08-24 03:00
By Duane Colyar.
Exclusive to STR
Expanding on the ideas presented in by the author in a previous column, the reader is invited to imagine a federation, such as the United States, where the central, federal government functioned within the limits imposed by a founding document, such as the Constitution of the United States. Now imagine everyday life for the citizens of the...
The Evolution of the Welfare-Warfare State
Duane Colyar
2009-11-22 17:00
Exclusive to STR
The author presents a model in the form of a flow chart that briefly attempts to depict the evolution of the welfare-warfare state with an emphasis on the American experience. There is a wealth of literature available to support the elements of this model. The author has cited a few of the sources that informed him and offer the reader a fuller treatment of the subject.
1....
Thucydides' Law
Duane Colyar
2009-07-20 16:00
Exclusive to STR
' it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can. ~ Thucydides
The growth of the state with its government apparatus has resulted in the growth of coercion, the growth of force. When all of the layers of government are peeled back to reveal its inner core, its essence, that essence is force. This fact is hardly a secret. A college text in political science...
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