Freedom in Chains: The Rise of the State and the Demise of the Citizen

by James Bovard

Governments are bigger and more powerful than ever, while a citizen's ability to control his or her own life has never been less effective. Bovard shows how the State threatens to destroy the individual in order to preserve the belief that any government is superior to the citizen. Bovard asks how we got to this point and answers with a thoughtful look at the history of governmental control from ancient times to the present, peppered throughout with observations on our present day, out of control governmental regulatory commissions and all-confiscating IRS.

Genres: Politics, History

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Is a libertarian author and lecturer whose political commentary targets examples of waste, failures, corruption, cronyism and abuses of power in government. He is the author of Attention Deficit Democracy, and eight other books. He has written for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, New Republic, Reader's Digest, The American Conservative, and many other publications. His books have been translated into Spanish, Arabic, Japanese, and Korean.

Reviews

[Joshua · Rating 5 out of 5]

An important warning against the deification of the state.

[Shea Mastison · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very simple, concise rebuttal against thousands of years worth of statist philosophy. James Bovard takes the time to examine several different reasons offered by contemporary philosophers/social scientists to justify the existence of a massive state apparatus; and proceeds to explain why they are flawed.

Most powerfully, he explains that government is a social institution predicated upon the use of force. Violence is the preferred currency of government, no matter the locale; it should be much more preferable to allow people to pursue their own interests and interact with one another with the least amount of force possible. The free market can provide opportunities for such interactions--the government can rarely ever.

This is one of the best libertarian books that I've read so far this year. Highly recommended.

[Andrea Michel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm inclined to mark this as a must-read, or at least a "must-skim" James Bovard brings to light a lot of shocking and surprising ways that are freedom has been encroached far more than is obvious and much more than I would've thought. Brings home the absolute necessity of limiting the powers of government if we want to maintain liberty. And he's a terrific writer -- very engaging, often funny. This is a real page turner of a book -- that also has a ton of information.

I don't agree with Bovard on everything, but he does raise a lot of important points here -- and he isn't heavy handed about his own point of view.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Few political writers get to the heart of major issues the way James Bovard does. While this is somewhat more of a large data dump than his other titles, the book is still very informative and relevant, even years after its publication. Worth your time.

[JP · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very comprehensive set of points about freedom and the rise of the State against it.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Essays on how we have been deluded into believing that our democratic system is somehow 'different' that other statist powers.