Beware the Hamiltonians
John Stossel has an excellent column today in response to a recent article entitled “Reviving the Hamilton Agenda.” The best word for Hamiltonian policies would be coercive. Read for yourself.
I wish Brooks and other Hamiltonian conservatives understood that freedom and prosperity have nothing to do with bureaucrats managing society through schooling and tax manipulation. Prosperity comes from leaving people free in a legal system that respects their persons and property so they can pursue their dreams while taking responsibility for their actions. Free people find their own tools if the state leaves them alone.
In the era of big government, the last thing we need are champions of the statist Hamilton. What we need now are champions of the libertarian Jefferson, who said in a very un-Hamiltonian way: “I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it.
That’s my favorite Jefferson quote of all time.