It is the moral equivalent of war, not war, that is the health of the state. Actual war is too messy and dangerous.
Feb 102023
Ruling
In ’37 Stalin made a hash
Of party loyalists and army brass.
Decimation: One in ten are shot.
What’s the word when one in ten are not?
Jan 052023
Tyranny is never frank, even with no reason to be anything else. It is forever wheedling, patronizing, solicitous, half high-school vice-principal and half kindergarten crossing-guard.
Dec 222022
Communism and anarchism are natural allies: one proposes to punish what is best in human nature, the other not to punish what is worst.
Dec 162022
To lose a war is sometimes a disaster; to fight one on your own turf always is.
Dec 082022
Policy has most of the force of law and none of the inconvenience. Once assured that it is a policy, people will put up with nearly anything.
Dec 062022
Of rulers’ vices, corruption is not the worst, merely the tackiest.
Nov 032022
Every society is ruled by its high-status beliefs; if you don’t like them, your only recourse is to lower their status.
Oct 252022
Every regime, in every era, has installed incompetents in positions of high responsibility and authority; it is our unique distinction to do so on high principle.
Sep 232022
Crime is like most problems: you don’t need to know the cause to fix it.
Sep 072022
Government does not issue recommendations or suggestions — only threats.