- Saturn's Children
Infobox Book
name = Saturn's Children: How the State Devours Liberty, Prosperity and Virtue
image_caption = Front cover of the hardback edition, depicting "Saturn Devouring His Son "
author =Alan Duncan andDominic Hobson
illustrator =
cover_artist =Francisco Goya
country =United Kingdom
language = English
subject =
genre =Political science
publisher =Sinclair-Stevenson
pub_date = July1995
pages = 400 pp
isbn = 1-85619-605-4
oclc = : "Not to be confused with the science fiction novel Saturn's Children byCharles Stross .""Saturn’s Children: How the State Devours Liberty, Prosperity and Virtue" is a
political science book byAlan Duncan andDominic Hobson . Its main thesis is that states (in particular, theUnited Kingdom , on which the book concentrates) expropriate private property, eliminate personal liberties, and undermine the material well-being of the people.Its title refers to the Roman myth that Saturn, fearing his children usurping him, ate them at birth. The front cover of the
hardback edition features "Saturn Devouring His Son ", a painting byFrancisco Goya portraying the myth.Controversy
The book courted political controversy due to
Alan Duncan 's role as a Conservative MP andParliamentary Private Secretary to theChairman of the Conservative Party ,Brian Mawhinney . As a consequence, many of the book's stridently libertarian messages disagreed with the position of Duncan's party, which, at the time, was suffering considerable internal divisions, culiminating in a leadership contest in 1995.Perhaps the most controversial of the policies advocated in the book was the position taken that all drugs, currently controlled under the
Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 , should be legally available to the public. When the book was published inpaperback , this chapter was omitted. However, Duncan does not attempt to hide this view, and reproduces it in full on his official website for 'enquiring students'.External links
* [http://www.alanduncan.org.uk/legalisationofdrugs.html Reproduction of the omitted chapter on Alan Duncan's official website]
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