Diocletian, who, from a servile origin, had raised himself to the throne, passed the nine last years of his life in a private condition….[H]e had preserved, or at least he soon recovered, a taste for the most innocent as well as natural pleasures, and his leisure hours were sufficiently employed in building, planting, and gardening. His answer to Maximian is deservedly celebrated. He was solicited by that restless old man to reassume the reins of government, and the Imperial purple. He rejected the temptation with a smile of pity, calmly observing, that if he could show Maximian the cabbages which he had planted with his own hands at Salona, he should no longer be urged to relinquish the enjoyment of happiness for the pursuit of power. –Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire [1776]
HORNBERGER’S BLOG
January 4, 2024 Reinforcing the Immigration Police State
Proponents of America’s system of immigration controls never mention their support of what comes with this system that they support — an immigration police state. That’s because they don’t want to be known as proponents of a police state. They want to be known only as proponents of immigration controls. But an immigration police state comes with a system of immigration controls, just …
How Absolute Power Corrupted the President
by John W. Whitehead
Once a dictator, always a dictator. Power-hungry, lawless and steadfast in its pursuit of authoritarian powers, the government does not voluntarily…
The Impact of Austrian Economics on Marxism
by Jacob Hornberger and Richard Ebeling
In this week’s Libertarian Angle, Jacob and Richard discuss the impact of the Austrian school …
Conservatives Just Don’t Get It on Discrimination
by Laurence M. Vance
Liberals, progressives, and other left-leaning individuals have made discrimination a dirty word. Their crusade against all forms of discrimination in employment, in housing, in …
Conservatives, Hate Crimes, and Victimless Crimes
by Laurence M. Vance
Libertarianism and conservatism have been described as “uneasy cousins.” There are some issues where they can unite in opposition to the terrible policies of …