Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty

by James Bovard

From Justice Department officials seizing people's homes based on mere rumors to the IRS and its master plan to prohibit the nation's self-employed from working for themselves to the perpetrators of the Waco siege, government officials are tearing the Bill of Rights to pieces. Today's citizen is now more likely than ever to violate some unknown law or regulation and be placed at the mercy of an administrator or politician hungering for publicity. Unfortunately, the only way many government agencies can measure their "public service" is by the number of citizens they harass, hinder, restrain, or jail.

James Bovard's Lost Rights provides a highly entertaining analysis of the bloated excess of government and the plight of contemporary Americans beaten into submission by a horrible parody of the Founding Fathers' dream.

Genres: History, Politics, Nonfiction, Economics, American

416 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

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

[Jim]

I haven't finished the book. It's good, but I can't read too much of it or I get upset & feel helpless about all that has happened.

[Joelle Lewis]

Joelle Reads Her Bookcase #30

The most recent events in this book took place in the first Clinton administration - so 1995 at the latest - which means this book is approaching 40 years old. However, it's interesting that many of the same arguments could still be made. There are of course areas of I will disagree with, but not simply from a libertarian perspective, but more from an antiracist viewpoint (such as Fair Housing and welfare). Also, with the advent of the internet and smart phones, child pornography has exploded, and the FBI has admitted that it cannot deal with the issue. Whatever your positions on adult sex workers, sex trafficking is an issue internationally and domestically, and something that also cannot be dealt with. Pornography may be a First Amendment right, but children and people will always matter more; in my opinion, their worth is greater than my constitutional right to look at porn on the internet.

One case they talked about was a Penn State student who was prosecuted for having three videocassettes (again, the late 80's here) of an adolescent girl's swim team in their leotards and tights, swimsuits, and - wait for it - underwear. The judge convinced him because he ruled a "bare thigh constituted the public area, and was indecent." It was overturned on appeal because all the "indecent areas were 'fully covered' and it was 'ridiculous' to assume that a bare thigh was now to considered the pubic area." The entire time I was reading this, I'm thinking, "WHY DOES A MALE COLLEGE STUDENT NEED THREE(!!!!) VIDEO CASSETTES OF ADOLESCENT GIRLS, SOME CLOTHED ONLY IN THEIR UNDERWEAR."

UNDERWEAR, PEOPLE.

[Andrew]

Love 30 year old case studies!!!

[montie]

Changed my view of American freedom in the modern age. We've lost much.

[Gina M Jordan]

This book was the hardest reading because it taps that well of inner rage, adds to a feeling of helplessness; yet it should be recommended reading for every citizen, perhaps in school.

If it were rewritten now, with the further erosion of rights since Bush, it might induce strokes. Now what we need is the solutions. I'd certainly love the chance to see a Libertarian government see if they can do better than the Laurel & Hardy show we're subjected to by our supposed representatives!

[Bill]

Great viewpoints

[columbialion]

A libertarian examination of the incursion of government into American civil rights

[Craig Bolton]

Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty by James Bovard (1995)

[Bill Gunn]

Still reading, Too many facts concentrated in a small space (my head)! Seriously, the data presented by the author is completely thought out, documented and overwhelming; a great sleep aid.
Bill

[Benjamin Page]

This is a well documented, eye-opening, and infuriating look at atrocities committed by the IRS.