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February 10, 2012
"All legitimacy, even that of authoritarian regimes, is fundamentally based on an accepted belief."
In dictatorships, it is the belief that the secret police are all powerful.In the liberal West, it is the myth that the elites are the all-wise source of public approval. Just as Syria's Assad is suffering from a growing realization that he can't stop the rebels, the biggest danger facing the liberal orthodoxy is a growing awareness that they can't stop the heretics from speaking out in the public square. -- Belmont Club - Breaking Taboos
Posted by gerardvanderleun at February 10, 2012 6:31 PM. This is an entry on the sideblog of American Digest: Check it out.
Your Say
As Montesquieu wrote, tyrannies rely on fear; monarchies rely on honor and republics rely on virtue to exist.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at February 10, 2012 7:19 PM
Speaking in the public square is eminently safer when heavily armed.
Posted by: Peccable at February 11, 2012 6:10 AM