To the eye of Charles Murray, the situation is grim—grimmer than you realize. Our government is increasingly corrupt. The legal system is lawless. The regulatory agencies possess tyrannical levels of power. Murray, social scientist and author of Losing Ground and Coming Apart, no longer believes these problems can be solved by a series of conservative victories at the ballot box. The most basic elements of our government, including its constitutional foundation, are irreparably broken, he contends. However, By The People: Rebuilding Liberty Without Permission is no bugle cry to retreat. We have been defeated on the field of political process, but Murray calls all good patriots to join him in a subversive campaign of civil disobedience.

In many ways, Murray’s cause is a populist one. His work is leveled directly at the thousands of federal regulations which complicate your attempt to run a business, send your child to school, or mail a letter. (Indeed, bureaucrats aside, it would be difficult to find a fan of federal regulation.)