Why Publius?

Publius was a Roman Senator, and was the pen name taken by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay when they wrote the Federalist Papers in 1787. The Federalist Papers were a series of 84 essays written to not only describe the US Constitution, but they also were advocacy papers for the Constitution and republican form of government. Many political scientist call the Federalist Papers the seminal work of US political science as they are the quintessential book on human nature as it relates to politics. I agree with this view.

I use Publius not because I am anywhere near as smart as the three men who wrote the Federalist Papers, but as a tribute to their intellect and insight. Another reason for using Publius is to perhaps steer those that have never read the Federalist Papers towards the book. So in that essence I am a shameless marketer, and while I will reap no monetary reward by individuals picking up the book and reading it, we who call ourselves conservative stand to gain by adding to our collective pursuit of knowledge and increasing our ability to articulate fundamental conservative values and republican ideals.

The Federalist Papers serve as a warning guide to big government and mostly liberal designs on our liberty. I intend to use my blog and the Federalist Papers to show that most of the political high jinks of the left, and right, are not new. Additionally I will highlight why certain political behavior is to be expected and why it is bad, wrong, immoral, dangerous or evil if you will. Moreover, because there is little new political maneuvering there isn’t much that the 84 chapters of the Federalist Papers cannot cover. Furthermore, the application of the Federalist Papers is not restricted to just US national politics; the thoughts and ideas within the book are valid across the globe and at any level of government, for they truly are a compilation of essays on human nature.

As you might guess, I love the Federalist Papers. The book is a tough and understanding the writing style of that period takes a great deal of concentration; I am proud to say I have read it twice. There are some difficult passages and admittedly some boring ones too. However, the reason I love the Federalist Papers, in addition to everything I have mentioned above, is it enables me to know my enemy. Liberalism is the friend of big government and the enemy of liberty and freedom and I believe we should fight it at every turn. However, by no means do I advocate fighting liberalism with anything other than well-articulated conservative ideas. The Federalist Papers, written by Publius, not only allows me insight into liberal strategy but also offers me its playbook and arms me with the arguments for its defeat.