How prescient was HL Mencken?

[ananda]

Who said: I believe that all government is evil, in that
all government must necessarily make war upon liberty."

And how right was Churchill when he said that "All wars
are unnecessary"?

[Ocelot II]

1. Very prescient, indeed.

“As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”
― H.L. Mencken, On Politics: A Carnival of Buncombe

[ananda]

2. A moron with a pocketful of insane clowns.

...

[rampartd]

3. mencken seems to error on the libertarian side

while the function of government might be to "reduce liberty" that is not necessarily evil, )i don't need the liberty to kill rape or steal.

churchill is correct.

[ananda]

6. I agree with Churchill also because..

I think war is basically about money and empire.

For example, if banks and outside industries
ghosted Putin.. there would be no war.

[DBoon]

4. He was a cynic

Someone like that will never be disappointed

[ananda]

5. While true, still, was he right?

I think it depends on whether or not you believe
that government is a given.

If so, the real question is... how far should it be
allowed to go.

If not, then what? Anarchy? Or something
else?

[CrispyQ]

7. "No matter how cynical I get, I can't keep up." -Lily Tomlin -nt