Libertarians and classical liberals place too much faith in man. That’s understandable for secular believers in a libertarian philosophy, but should be impossible for someone like David French, a Presbyterian who should understand Calvin’s excellent warnings about man’s sinfulness.
Calvin describes the state of man in a way that evokes images of Machiavelli. Calvin warned that men are, “perverse, corrupt and lacking any good.” The practical political philosopher Machiavelli described the dangers of relying on men since, “One can make this generalization about men: they are ungrateful, fickle, liars, and deceivers, they shun danger and are greedy for profit.