A man’s admiration of absolute government is proportionate to the contempt he feels for those around him
–Alexis de Tocqueville, from the preface to his The Old Regime and the (French) Revolution.
Translations of this passage differ: the one quoted above is from this version. A different translation renders the phrase as “contempt for one’s country.” The actual French phrase used in the original is son pays. Either way, the point is pretty similar.
Previous Worth Pondering post.
One of the popular misconceptions of “tyranny” is that it involves a Hitler-like ruler, brutal and cruel, when in fact in the American concept dating back to the pre-Revolutionary troubles it involves the abrogation of natural rights and self-rule.
Progressives offer a supposedly beneficial rule of “experts” wielding scientifically-derived expertise for the benefit of all. Outside of any issue of personal corruption and grifting, this supposed service to humanity is by definition tyranny because it treads on the citizen’s natural rights whether it materially benefits the citizen or not
That’s why the COVID lockdown epitomized tyranny. I know more than you do and what is better for you therefore for your own good I will rule over you