Notwithstanding what some regard as the institutionalization of compassion, the transfer society quashes genuine virtue. Redistribution of income by means of government coercion is a form of theft. Its supporters attempt to disguise its essential character by claiming that democratic… — Robert Higgs Copy Share Image
Abetted by misguided or co-opted intellectuals, the rulers weave a cloak of legitimacy to disguise their theft and hence to ease their extraction of wealth from the rightful owners. — Robert Higgs Copy Share Image
Recipients of transfers set a bad example for others, including their children, other relatives, and friends, who see that one can receive goods, services,… — Robert Higgs Copy Share Image
In debates between anarchists and statists, the burden of proof clearly should rest on those who place their trust in the state. Anarchy's mayhem… — Robert Higgs Copy Share Image
“Anarchists did not try to carry out genocide against the Armenians in Turkey; they did not deliberately starve millions of Ukrainians; they did not… — Robert Higgs Copy Share Image
We need to have a modicum of faith in people's common sense, creativity and will to survive and prosper even in the face of… — Robert Higgs Copy Share Image
To continue on the road we Americans have traveled for the past century is ultimately to deliver ourselves completely into the hands of an… — Robert Higgs Copy Share Image
Inflation is not a benign element in the economy's operation. It is, as it has always been, the most dangerous and destructive form of… — Robert Higgs Copy Share Image
Until the 1930s, the Constitution served as a major constraint on federal economic interventionism. The government's powers were understood to be just as the… — Robert Higgs Copy Share Image
No doubt, anarchy, once established, might not last forever. But if your house is on fire, the sensible course of action is to put… — Robert Higgs Copy Share Image
By adopting programs to distribute substantial amounts of income, a nation guarantees that its government will become more powerful and invasive in other ways. — Robert Higgs Copy Share Image
All nonstate threats to life, liberty, and property appear to be relatively petty and therefore can be dealt with. Only states can pose truly… — Robert Higgs Copy Share Image
This is the true lesson of our history: war, preparation for war, and foreign military interventions have served for the most part not to… — Robert Higgs Copy Share Image
Liberty in the United States will never be reestablished so long as elites and masses alike look to the president to perform supernatural feats… — Robert Higgs Copy Share Image
The beginning of political wisdom is the realization that despite everything you’ve always been taught, the government is not really on your side; indeed,… — Robert Higgs Copy Share Image
“When the contentious questions are mainly economic (put aside such inflammatory but mainly noneconomic matters as capital punishment or abortion) they tend to fall… — Robert Higgs Copy Share Image
For members of the political class, the crucial question is always: how can we push out the frontier, how can we augment the government's… — Robert Higgs Copy Share Image
