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Open Thread: Ask me anything

h l mencken_1Long time since we had an open thread. This is an “Ask me anything” post. What’s on your mind?

Apropos nothing, let’s read Mencken. Mencken was insightful. For instance, he noted the “basic delusion that men may be governed and yet be free.”

He held politicians in very low regard.

When a candidate for public office faces the voters he does not face men of sense; he faces a mob of men whose chief distinguishing mark is the fact that they are quite incapable of weighing ideas, or even of comprehending any save the most elemental — men whose whole thinking is done in terms of emotion, and whose dominant emotion is dread of what they cannot understand. So confronted, the candidate must either bark with the pack or be lost… All the odds are on the man who is, intrinsically, the most devious and mediocre — the man who can most adeptly disperse the notion that his mind is a virtual vacuum. The Presidency tends, year by year, to go to such men. As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.

That most people are not free is an easily observable fact. As an economist may put it, the demand for freedom is rather weak and therefore the supply is nearly non-existent.

The fact is that the average man’s love of liberty is nine-tenths imaginary, exactly like his love of sense, justice and truth. He is not actually happy when free; he is uncomfortable, a bit alarmed, and intolerably lonely. Liberty is not a thing for the great masses of men. It is the exclusive possession of a small and disreputable minority, like knowledge, courage and honor. It takes a special sort of man to understand and enjoy liberty — and he is usually an outlaw in democratic societies.

Would you agree?

Atanu Dey on India's Development

Atanu Dey
Chapters
PJ O’Rourke: Every government is a parliament of whores The Amazing Power of Technology Swami Vivekanand: To the 4th of July No True Islamic State Herbert Simon — Information consumes attention Yoga has no Religion Hayek on “The Mirage of Social Justice” An Open Letter to PM Shri Modi Prefer a Functioning Economy Political Discrimination is Socially Harmful Markets & Competition Ministry of Power, Coal, and New and Renewable Energy John Stuart Mill on the Liberty of Thought and Discussion Reading Ronald Coase Universal Literacy Man versus the State What Comes Before An ad from 1947: “The Uphill Task Ahead” Pohela Boishakh, Vishu, and Puthandu Greetings Rich People Spend More Goodbye, Mr Lee Kuan Yew Friday the 13th, Pi Day the 14th & Beware the Ides of March Money is the root of all Evil Warren Buffet’s Letter to the Shareholders The Man Lee Kuan Yew Admires the Most An Informed Citizenry is the Bulwark of a Democracy Problems and Solutions People I Admire – Part Doh Nelson Mandela on Education Criticizing Modern Indian Holy Cows Considered Dangerous Richard Dawkins on the Monotheistic God List of Pages on Teresa the Merciless People I Admire Lee Kuan Yew is under Intensive Care On Monkeys, Cats & the Generality Principle The Great Indian Bamboozle has to Stop 2400 hours of electricity for Delhi — every year? Make India first to “Make in India” Republic Day Thoughts on Reading the Constitution A Day of Shame and National Mourning for India The most dangerous man to any government Socialism, Competition and Politicians Open Thread: Ask me anything Aakash, the “iPad Killer”, Vaporware has Evaporated The Dreamer and the Dream Circular Firing Squad of Flying Attack Monkeys Target Rajiv Malhotra We need more Anandamide, not Jihadamide Constitutions Matter in our Daily Lives The Only Home We’ve Ever Known Adam Smith on the Division of Labor The Passing of Former President Mr APJ Abdul Kalam Socialism Works its Wonders in Venezuela - also in West Bengal Why the terrorists killed the satirists of Charlie Hebdo Islam Poses an Existential Threat The Wisdom of the Crowd On Knowing Enough to Know that You Don’t Know NITI — New Initiatives for Transforming India Will India Recover? The Unbearable Stupidity of Controlling Prices Nov 14th as the “Day of Shame and Lamentations for India.” The Indian Constitution — Part 2 Hayek on Valuing Individuals Mr Modi goes to Washington