Joseph Sobran, R.I.P.
I missed this, but Joe Sobran died on Thursday. He always struck me as a very wise man. You believed him when he talked about what the politicians would do, because it seemed like he’d seen it all before. (Although he was actually not that old.)
Sobran used to be a conservative who wrote for National Review. Then they parted ways (shall we say) after he opposed the first Gulf War.
I remember hearing Sobran give a funny talk (I think it was titled “The Reluctant Anarchist”) at the Mises Institute. He was talking about the silly, Ivory Tower justifications for the State. After describing all the horrors of modern warfare etc., Sobran said something like, “And yet we are told we need a State with its powers of eminent domain. So we are subject to income taxation and terror bombing, in order to have roads–or should I say, straight roads.”
I’m probably butchering the delivery, but it was pretty funny.
Here’s a quote that Anthony Gregory posted on Facebook:
“If you want government to intervene domestically, you’re a liberal. If you want government to intervene overseas, you’re a conservative. If you want government to intervene everywhere, you’re a moderate. If you don’t want government to intervene anywhere, you’re an extremist.” — Joe Sobran
