Washington Post: “A government of the people’s every wish?”

If you don’t live in this country all of the time, and I don’t, here is what you notice when you come home: Americans — with their lawsuit culture, their safety obsession and, above all, their addiction to government spending programs — demand more from their government than just about anybody else in the world. They don’t simply want the government to keep the peace and create a level playing field. They want the government to ensure that every accident and every piece of bad luck is prevented, or that they are fully compensated in the event something goes wrong. And if the price of their house drops, they will hold the government responsible for that, too.

The Economist: “What happens when you display “Forbidden art”

From Prof. Andrei Zorin of Oxford University (and a contributor to InLiberty.ru and speaker at InLiberty.ru events):

There can be no doubt that a guilty verdict will dramatically change the political climate in Russia and deal a powerful, if not a mortal, blow to the much-hyped modernisation plans of President Dmitry Medvedev. Whether economic and technological modernisation can succeed without political reforms is the subject of intense discussions in Russia. But no one can hope to modernise society without freedom of conscience and the freedom of thought.

Russia’s image abroad, which had just started to improve, will be ruined for at least another decade. The damage to the country’s reputation may prove even longer-lasting than in the Khodorkovsky case. Businessmen are pragmatic people and can sometimes be prepared to trade one of their own to save their investments. Artists and intellectuals are less forgiving.

The story of an art curator and human-rights activist jailed for arranging an exhibition will haunt Russia and all its projects of cultural integration with the West. In such an environment who needs grandiose events like the current “Russian year” in France?

Daily Telegraph: “Nick Clegg: tell us the laws that you want scrapped”

The public will be asked what laws they want ripped up, in far-reaching reforms designed to put back “faith in politics”, the Deputy Prime Minister will say.

The reordering of power will sweep away Labour legislation and new criminal offences deemed to have eroded personal freedom.

It will involve the end of the controversial ID cards scheme, the scrapping of universal DNA databases – in which the records of thousands of innocent people have been stored – and restrictions placed on internet records. The use of CCTV cameras will also be reviewed.

Dubbed the “Great Reform Act”, the measures will close down the ContactPoint children’s database. Set up by Labour last year, it includes detailed information on all 11 million youngsters under 18.

In addition, schools will not be able to take a child’s fingerprint without parental permission.

In an attempt to protect freedom of speech, ministers will review libel laws, while limits on peaceful protest will be removed.

HT: Jim Peron

Los Angeles Times: “Rand Paul of ‘tea party’ movement wins GOP primary in Kentucky”

You can take issue with his stands on Guantanamo or foreign policy, but he’s sent a little shiver down the backs of the politicos in Washington. That’s worth it.

Interview on American politics

Explained by Experts Takis Michas and Patrick Welter

I’ve known both Takis and Patrick for years and it was great to have them both together in D.C. to talk about a subject on which both are experts, albeit from different directions.

Kazakhstan Boosts President’s Powers

ALMATY, Kazakhstan—Kazakhstan’s parliament was poised Wednesday to declare President Nursultan Nazarbayev “leader of the nation” for life and grant him immunity from criminal prosecution and extensive powers after his departure from office.

And the Senate of Kazakhstan approved just a few days later! (Central Asia Online: “Senate approves Nazarbayev’s ‘leader of nation’ status“)

The bill awaits Nazarbayev’s signature.

Will he sign it? Or will he veto it? What do you think?

George F. Will: “Greece and GM: Too weak to fail“

David Bernstein on the rather, um, selective history of “Progressivism” given by the “Center for American Progress”: “Whitewashing Progressivism”

One could add many, many sins to the account of so-called “Progressives,” including prohibition, victimless crime laws generally, vice squads, public morals legislation, and generally attempting to replace the rule of law by the rule of wise and moral “experts,” i.e., themselves.

Reason.com: “Up from Slavery: There’s no such thing as a golden age of lost liberty”

I am particularly struck by libertarians and conservatives who celebrate the freedom of early America, and deplore our decline from those halcyon days, without bothering to mention the existence of slavery. Take R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr., longtime editor of the American Spectator. In Policy Review (Summer 1987, not online), he wrote:

Let us flee to a favored utopia. For me that would be the late 18th Century but with air conditioning….With both feet firmly planted on the soil of my American domain, and young American flag fluttering above, tobacco in the field, I would relish the freedom.

I take it Mr. Tyrrell dreams of being a slave-owner. Because as he certainly knows, most of the people in those tobacco fields were slaves.

Ten years ago I wrote for Slate the truth about what our federal census has become: “Census 2000: You May Already Be a Winner!”

(Note: Some of the links — ten years on — don’t work, but you could have learned how to say “The money will be distributed by national and local authorities,” among other fascinating things, in Hmong, Polish, and Laotian.)

Alex Korbel’s new blog. The Smart stuff from Europe…

March 10Rasmussen Report

Just 23% of voters say they prefer a more active government with more services and higher taxes over one with fewer services and lower taxes. This finding has remained fairly consistent since regular tracking on this question began in November 2006.

From Politico: “Conservatives target their own fringe”

Erickson has advised new tea party organizers on how to avoid affiliations with extremists, and this month banned birthers – conservatives who believe that Obama was not born in the United States and is, therefore, ineligible to be President – from his blog (he has long blacklisted truthers, those who believe that the U.S. government was complicit in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks – a conspiracy theory with devotees across the political spectrum).

“At some point, you have to use the word ‘crazy,’” said Erickson.

Hat Tip: Bruce Bartlett

I just found (thanks to snooping around some emails) the text of the Julian L. Simon Memoral Lecture I gave in 2009 in New Delhi on “Democracy and Limited Government: The Unbreakable Partnership.” For those who are interested, some years earlier I wrote essays on “Challenges of Democratization,” “The Role of Institutions and Law in Economic Development,” and other essays on the central role of institutions in the development and enjoyment of liberty that are included in Realizing Freedom: Libertarian Theory, History, and Practice.

The Colombian Constitutional Court has put a stop to the principle of “President for Life” (BBC: “Colombian judges deny Alvaro Uribe third term poll“)

A Power Failure for Chavez (BBC: “Lights failure throws Chavez into darkness“)

I discussed the topic of sustainable democracy in the 2009 Julian L. Simon Memorial Lecture in New Delhi, “Democracy and Limited Government: The Unbreakable Partnership”

Jonathan Rauch’s insightful take on contemporary GOP politics in the National Journal: “It’s George Wallace’s GOP Now”

LIKE WALLACE AND HIS SUPPORTERS 40 YEARS AGO, TODAY’S CONSERVATIVE POPULISTS ARE LONG ON ANGER AND SHORT ON COHERENCE.

I just stumbled upon Gary Johnson’s website, via his Facebook page. The updates are pretty good.