It is the moral equivalent of war, not war, that is the health of the state. Actual war is too messy and dangerous.
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?
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.
Communism and anarchism are natural allies: one proposes to punish what is best in human nature, the other not to punish what is worst.
To lose a war is sometimes a disaster; to fight one on your own turf always is.
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.
Of rulers’ vices, corruption is not the worst, merely the tackiest.
Every society is ruled by its high-status beliefs; if you don’t like them, your only recourse is to lower their status.
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.
Crime is like most problems: you don’t need to know the cause to fix it.
Government does not issue recommendations or suggestions — only threats.