From Mill's 1836 essay, 'Aristocracy'. Inequalities of fortune produce good effects. ‘Reformers are far from thinking evil of inequalities of fortune; on the contrary, they esteem them a necessary consequence of things which are so good, that society itself, and all the happiness of human beings, depend upon them: a consequence of those laws whence … Continue reading James Mill on Aristocracy
Category: Politics
Bentham on lawyers
"It is the people’s interest that delay, vexation and expense of procedure should be as small as possible:—it is the advocate’s that they should be as great as possible: viz. expense in so far as his profit is proportioned to it; factitious vexation and delay, in so far as inseparable from the profit-yielding part of … Continue reading Bentham on lawyers
John Stuart Mill on race and slavery
From Mill's 1850 essay, 'The Negro Question'. The law of the strongest. 'Your last month’s Number contains a speech against the “rights of Negroes,” the doctrines and spirit of which ought not to pass without remonstrance. The author issues his opinions, or rather ordinances, under imposing auspices, no less than those of the “immortal gods.” … Continue reading John Stuart Mill on race and slavery
English politicians described
Here let those reign, whom Pensions can inciteTo vote a Patriot black, a Courtier white; Explain their Country's dear-bought Rights away,And plead for Pirates in the Face of Day;With slavish Tenets taint our poison'd Youth,And lend a Lye the Confidence of Truth. – Samuel Johnson, London (1738).
Improbable witnesses on the annihilation of Gaza
“They’re starting to lose ... support by indiscriminate bombing that takes place.” – former President Joe Biden, December 2023.1 "It is without a doubt true that Israel has committed war crimes." – former State Department spokesman Matthew Miller, June 2025.2 "The only reason the Palestinians want to go back to Gaza is, they have no … Continue reading Improbable witnesses on the annihilation of Gaza
A message from a friend of Liberty
THE liberty of the press is the birth-right of a BRITON, and is justly esteemed the firmest bulwark of the liberties of this country. It has been the terror of all bad ministers; for their dark and dangerous designs, or their weakness, inability, and duplicity, have thus been detected and shewn to the public, generally … Continue reading A message from a friend of Liberty
A Letter on the Gaza Peace Plan
29 September, 2025. There is little, one might have thought, that the rulers of the world could have done, to make themselves more odious to decent people. And yet, as ever, they have found a way: Sir Tony Blair, it is said, is in discussions to lead “a post-war transitional authority in Gaza”, named the … Continue reading A Letter on the Gaza Peace Plan
Sir Keir Starmer meets Donald Trump
A messenger was dispatched half a day's journey before us, to give the king notice of my approach; and to desire that his majesty would please to appoint a day and hour, when it would be his gracious pleasure, that I might have the honour to lick the dust before his footstool. This is the … Continue reading Sir Keir Starmer meets Donald Trump
A Dialogue on Gaza
A: I understand that you wanted to put some questions to me regarding the atrocities that we see daily in the Gaza Strip, and the defences—the hideous defences—so often made by the venerable members of our political and media establishment. B: Yes—I thought that it would be useful for us to survey some of the … Continue reading A Dialogue on Gaza
English government summarised
“It is agreed to by all really disinterested persons, that the government of England—not any individual government, but the general system—is one mass of immorality in practice, whatever it may be in theory. The whole working is founded on a system of conventional hypocrisy from first to last. The general modes of doing business are … Continue reading English government summarised
Notes in the Margins of the Days 