25 Years Ago in reason

From the October 2009 issue

“War is the origin of the state and, in Randolph Bourne’s familiar phrasing, is the health of the state. Modern war, grounded as it usually is in the kinds of political and moral ideals, or claimed ideals, which can justify almost limitless expansion of the state at the expense of society, is very healthful indeed to any form of state.”

—Robert Nisbet, “Cloaking the State’s Dagger”

“Today we have…refugees who are increasingly pushed onto the mercy of government welfare programs, as private efforts are crowded out and entrepreneurship is stymied. And what the government gives with one hand, it is often quick to take away with the other.”

—Lynn Scarlett, “Mucking Up the Melting Pot”

“The last few years have seen enormous progress with communications equipment, computers, facsimile transmitters, and other telecommunications technologies. The result is that it is now possible for people at home to perform a variety of jobs that had been reserved for traditional workplaces.”

—David Rubins, “Telecommuting: Will the Plug be Pulled?”

—October 1984