Rick Perlstein: Ideas Have Consequences (1)

December 2nd, 2008 - 12:04pm ET

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I have a conservative friend I've been emailing back and forth with for years—which means, basically, that for years and years he's been bombarding me with insistent bleats about the horrors of government. Any government. It turns human beings into serfs, slaves, little babies slurping on mother's breasts and unable to do anything else. It breaks up families, corrodes souls, tears the bond between man and God asunder. This particular conservative, in fact, used to be a survivalist.