#govern

To be GOVERNED is to be watched, inspected, spied upon, directed, law-driven, numbered, regulated, enrolled, indoctrinated, preached at, controlled, checked, estimated, valued, censured, commanded, by creatures who have neither the right nor the wisdom nor the virtue to do so. To be GOVERNED is to be at every operation, at every transaction noted, registered, counted, taxed, stamped, measured, numbered, assessed, licensed, authorized, admonished, prevented, forbidden, reformed, corrected, punished. It is, under pretext of public utility, and in the name of the general interest, to be place under contribution, drilled, fleeced, exploited, monopolized, extorted from, squeezed, hoaxed, robbed; then, at the slightest resistance, the first word of complaint, to be repressed, fined, vilified, harassed, hunted down, abused, clubbed, disarmed, bound, choked, imprisoned, judged, condemned, shot, deported, sacrificed, sold, betrayed; and to crown all, mocked, ridiculed, derided, outraged, dishonored. That is government; that is its justice; that is its morality." General Idea of the Revolution in the Nineteenth Century, translated by John Beverly Robinson (London: Freedom Press, 1923), pp. 293-294. ↗

— Pierre-Joseph Proudhon

#government #freedom

You have the army of mediocrities followed by the multitude of fools. As the mediocrities and the fools always form the immense majority, it is impossible for them to elect an intelligent government. ↗

— Guy de Maupassant

#elections #fools #government #intelligence #masses

The world is ruled by cowards and cravens; brave men have put them there. ↗

— Damon Meredith

#coward #cowardice #government #leaders #leadership

The human race is governed by its imagination. ↗

— Napoleon Bonaparte

#human #human race #imagination #race

The subjects of every state ought to contribute towards the support of the government, as nearly as possible, in proportion to their respective abilities. ↗

— Adam Smith

#taxes #wealth #nature

If the economy is strained, then Social Security, like the rest of the government, will be, too. ↗

— Mark Dayton

#government #like #rest #security #social

Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms, those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny; and it is believed that the most effectual means of preventing this would be, to illuminate, as far as practicable, the minds of the people at large... ↗

— Thomas Jefferson

#government #jefferson #education

I have never forgotten my days as an Eagle Scout. I didn't know it at the time, but what really came out of my Scouting was learning how to lead and serve the community. It has come in handy in my career in government. ↗

— Lloyd Bentsen

#career #come #community #days #eagle

Our identities have no bodies, so, unlike you, we cannot obtain order by physical coercion. We believe that from ethics, enlightened self-interest, and the commonweal, our governance will emerge. ↗

— John Perry Barlow

#bodies #cannot #coercion #emerge #enlightened

We will create a civilization of the Mind in Cyberspace. May it be more humane and fair than the world your governments have made before. ↗

— John Perry Barlow

#before #civilization #create #cyberspace #fair