John Hospers // May 7 at 4:57 PM ·
"In a democracy a majority may gang up on a minority: a majority may vote to inhibit the freedom of a minority or even a group of minorities. The tyranny of a majority can be just as cruel as the tyranny of a single dictator, depending on the degree of enlightenment or stupidity of the voting majority."
John Hospers, Libertarianism & the LP @50, and Beyond...
John Hospers May 9 at 7:45 PM ·
"Why do people come to believe in such socialistic schemes?

One reason is the belief that they will get something for nothing. It is the allure of the magic word "Free!" in advertisements. They have been treated by government propagandists and liberal commentators (is there a difference?) to vilification of the rich exploiters, greedy capitalists, and the like, and this provides, in their minds, a moral justification for fleecing them—which they can do via taxation with "soak the rich" policies. They do not, of course, see the end-results of these policies—the loss of incentive, the decline of industry, the rise of unemployment, the decline of consumer goods. But as a way of "getting even" with their supposed enemies, the appeal to "something for nothing" may often succeed. The price paid, however, will be enormous: the people will think they are getting more out of the government than they pay in taxes because the rich are paying more and getting less—and for the moment this may be true. But because of it, in the long run the most productive and successful people will reduce their efforts or throw in the towel entirely—and then the same people who voted these schemes in will experience a lower standard of living, unemployment, an industrial blight settling over the land like a miasma. They will wonder why. They will know that something has gone wrong, but they won't usually see that the cause lies in the very policies they voted for."

John Hospers, Libertarianism & the LP @50, and Beyond...