The Sacred and Profane

Posted on by Jonathan Beckman

Early in this discursive and thought-provoking book, part history, part law-book, part anthropological treatise, David Nash relates the curious tale of Robert van Hoorn, a Dutch ship master who had an altercation with his passengers in 1728. Van Hoorn’s ship had got caught in a storm in the Atlantic. The normal thing to do in […]

Libertarian’s Progress

Posted on by Jonathan Beckman

‘Ages of liberty … are transitions, brave interludes between eras of custom and order,’ Will Durant wrote. ‘They last while rival systems of order struggle for ascendancy; when either system wins, freedom melts away. Nothing is so disastrous to liberty as a successful revolution; the greatest tragedy that can befall an ideal is its fulfilment.’ […]

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