“Christian” falls within the language of collectivism — grouping people according to some contrived characteristic or one vaguely held in common. This expedites the mission of social do-gooders: They can elevate, exonerate, or vilify all members of the group, the better to apply group solutions to problems not all members share or apply pressure and enforce restrictions that not all members deserve.
Tag Archives: Albert Jay Nock
The Disadvantages of Being Educated
Well-trained professionals welcome the accolades for possessing proficiency in their field. Their education, however, if they had any, is another matter, as it lies behind their proficiency, and should not be confused with it. The joy and satisfaction of an education for education’s sake should still be what Commencement speakers say it is. Something must be done to mature the national resources of intellect and character, as well as proficiency…
Albert Jay Nock’s Job
In other words, if your goal is to reform the world to your liking, you are slated for failure from the outset. For that task is impossible — as well as unnecessary. But if your goal is to reform yourself, and incidentally present the truth as you know it to others, then you cannot fail…
Democracy or Republic
The Constitution, Article IV, Section 4, declares “The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government.” Nothing in the Constitution suggests that this country was ever intended to be a democracy. The critical difference is in the matter of rights. John Adams captured the essence of the differenceContinue reading “Democracy or Republic”
The Individual Who Can Think and Create
In the words of AJN: Our society has made no place for the individual who is able to think, who is, in the strict sense of the word, intelligent; it merely tosses him into the rubbish heap… Intelligence is the power and willingness always and disinterestedly to see things as they are, an easy accessibilityContinue reading “The Individual Who Can Think and Create”
Demagogue and Demaslave
Henry Louis Mencken was a contemporary and acquaintance of Albert Jay Nock. In The Superfluous Men, a volume of comparative essays compiled by Robert M. Crunden (ISI Books, 1999), Mencken is described as “an enormously prolific writer and editor of newspapers and magazines” who “had great impact on college students and the educated young adultsContinue reading “Demagogue and Demaslave”
Opposing Interests
The State is no proper agency for social welfare, and never will be, for exactly the same reason that an ivory paperknife is nothing to shave with. The interests of society and of the State do not coincide; and any pretense that they can be made to coincide is sheer nonsense. Society gets on bestContinue reading “Opposing Interests”
Albert Jay Nock 