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Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty Paperback – September 15, 1995
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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.
- Print length416 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- Publication dateSeptember 15, 1995
- Dimensions6 x 0.93 x 9 inches
- ISBN-109780312123338
- ISBN-13978-0312123338
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Editorial Reviews
From the Publisher
"Remarkable...Mr. Bovard's unrivaled research has resulted in a virtual encyclopedia of modern government abuse." --The Wall Street Journal
"There may be no more cogent critic of today's welfare state than journalist James Bovard...Lost Rights is his finest work yet." --National Review
"A gold mine...a virtually bottomless pit of government incompetence, dishonesty or outright repression at all levels." --The Washington Times
"I would go out of my way to recommend the remarkable book--400 densely packed pages about the mounting war on poverty and contract, the tyranny of taxation, and the growth of federal power in the guise of expanding our rights. In this field, Bovard is surely the leading researcher in the country...Brilliant!" --American Spectator
"Chilling...James Bovard has collected in one volume the evidence of what Americans' willingness to trade freedom for security has cost them...Bovard's catalogue of petty tyrannies is worth your attention. Read it to be reminded why eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." --Los Angeles Daily News
About the Author
James Bovard is the author of Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty, Shakedown, and The Fair Trade Fraud.
Product details
- ASIN : 0312123337
- Publisher : St. Martin's Griffin; First Edition (September 15, 1995)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 416 pages
- ISBN-10 : 9780312123338
- ISBN-13 : 978-0312123338
- Item Weight : 1.3 pounds
- Dimensions : 6 x 0.93 x 9 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,302,880 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #944 in General Elections & Political Process
- #1,488 in United States National Government
- #1,523 in Civil Rights & Liberties (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

James Bovard is the author of Last Rights: The Death of American Liberty (2023) Public Policy Hooligan (2012), Attention Deficit Democracy (2006), and eight other books. He is a member of the USA Today Board of Contributors, a frequent contributor to the New York Post, and has written for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Playboy, and the Washington Post, and is a fellow with the Libertarian Institute. His books have been translated into Spanish, Arabic, Japanese, and Korean.
The Wall Street Journal called Bovard 'the roving inspector general of the modern state,' and Washington Post columnist George Will called him a 'one-man truth squad.' His 1994 book Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty received the Free Press Association's Mencken Award as Book of the Year. His book Terrorism and Tyranny won the Lysander Spooner Award for the Best Book on Liberty in 2003. He received the Thomas Szasz Award for Civil Liberties work, awarded by the Center for Independent Thought, and the Freedom Fund Award from the National Rifle Association.
His writings have been been publicly denounced by the chief of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Postmaster General, and the chiefs of the Transportation Security Administration, U.S. International Trade Commission, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. In 2015, the Justice Department sought to suppress his articles in USA Today.
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Customers find the book well-written and easy to read. They appreciate the author's style and presentation.
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"Sad but true (to my personal experience). Well written. I enjoyed his style and presentation. I recommend it to every Liberty-Lover's bookshelf." Read more
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Well researched and written.
In addition, I think the other reviewer missed the point of whole book. Yes, Bovard cites files lawsuits but he also cites plenty of examples where judges have ruled in favor of the plaintiff, then cited examples of what can only be judicial incompetence or legal ignorance. The courts today are far from being the protector of our rights even if the occasional judge does do the right thing, and Bovard cites enough examples of that to prove that he indeed gives credit where credit is due.
But to the book, with Bovard's judicious use of examples and what we find is tat he builds a powerful case against the federal and in some cases local, governments. The examples he uses are all true and he by no means cites every example, but he sure cite enough to show a distinct pattern. An indisputable pattern.
What more powerful evidence can there be but to cite the facts of government abuse of citizens and the abrogation of the rights. There it is in black and white undeniable and irrefutable.
I also don't agree that Bovard is a champion of government regulation of the S&L's. I think the point Bovard made in the book was that the FDIC was insuring these S&L accounts and along with that insurance should have been some rules much like when you buy auto insurance, the insurer has the right to require certain things of you like having a drivers license.
I think What Bovard is saying here is that stupid regulations and failure to force the S&L's to behave responsibly as a condition for the FDIC coverage was the root of the problem. What if someone said to you in Las Vegas to bet as much as you like and not to worry, that someone else will cover your losses while you will keep you winnings. Imagine anyones behavior after being made an offer like that. Thats is basically what happened with the S&L's. If the S&L wanted FDIC coverage they should have had oversight. No oversight - no FDIC. Would you put your money in a non-FDIC bank? Maybe, maybe not but at least you would aware of the risks.
Overall Bovard makes a powerful case that no one can really challenge on the evidence. I would look forward to someone reviewing this book and citing a few examples that disprove his assertions. Yes I will accept anecdotal evidence.

