Who were these "celebrated authors" James Madison was referring to in The Federalist Paper No. 14? [more inside]
posted by Myles on Jun 15, 2009 - 8 answers

I'm looking for philosophical treatises that touch on the subjects of taxes, wealth, income and the like for a blog post I'm thinking about writing. Specifically, I'm looking for philosophical musings on the government's right (or lack thereof) to collect taxes and the right (or lack thereof) of an individual to do whatever he wants with his earnings. It would be more helpful if you could point to a specific chapter/section/passage, rather than saying "try reading Marx."
posted by ekroh on Apr 13, 2009 - 11 answers

With last nights government defeat in the House of Commons and the resultant hand-wringing on both sides of the 'civil-liberties vs security' debate, the quote that has been trotted out repeatedly is "Well if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear". Could anyone shed any light on the origin of this phrase? [more inside]
posted by mr_benn on Nov 9, 2005 - 15 answers

British MP Oliver Letwin wants environmental political debate to include discussions of beauty and romance in order to “help bring the subject alive and encourage people to become engaged in the wider debate.” [more inside]
posted by viewofdelft on Nov 9, 2005 - 1 answer