#government

Did you really think we want those laws observed?" said Dr. Ferris. "We want them to be broken. You'd better get it straight that it's not a bunch of boy scouts you're up against... We're after power and we mean it... There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What's there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced or objectively interpreted – and you create a nation of law-breakers – and then you cash in on guilt. Now that's the system, Mr. Reardon, that's the game, and once you understand it, you'll be much easier to deal with. ↗

— Ayn Rand

#law #men

What better way for a ruling class to claim and hold power than to pose as the defenders of the nation. ↗

— Christopher Hitchens

#conflict #government #history #politics #power

The fact that, in the United States, there are people serving ten-year prison terms for growing marijuana plants in their backyards while Wall Street racketeers, who have defrauded millions of people and destroyed the global economy, walk free is a kind of bizarre hypocrisy that boggles my mind. ↗

— Mark Haskell Smith

#government #hypocrisy #politics #politics-of-the-united-states #truth

When the government violates the people's rights, insurrection is, for the people and for each portion of the people, the most sacred of the rights and the most indispensible of duties. ↗

— Marquis de Lafayette

#each #for the people #government #insurrection #most

And you can't have a prosperous economy when the government is way overspending, raising tax rates, printing too much money, over regulating and restricting free trade. It just can't be done. ↗

— Arthur Laffer

#economy #free #free trade #government #just

What I'm not saying is that all government spending is bad. It's not - far, far from it, but there is no free lunch, as a former colleague of mine used to say. There is no public tooth fairy. Father Christmas does not work on the Treasury staff this year. You can never bail someone out of trouble without putting someone else into trouble. ↗

— Arthur Laffer

#bail #christmas #colleague #does #else

Government spending is taxation. When you look at this, I've never heard of a poor person spending himself into prosperity; let alone I've never heard of a poor person taxing himself into prosperity. ↗

— Arthur Laffer

#government #government spending #heard #himself #i

I mean, everyone agrees with stress tests for banks. I mean that's clear. But banks should do that on their own. And they should worry about their own capital functioning. That's what they should do. It shouldn't be a government function. ↗

— Arthur Laffer

#banks #capital #clear #everyone #function

People can also change the timing of when they earn and receive their income in response to government policies. ↗

— Arthur Laffer

#change #earn #government #government policies #income

People can change the volume, the location and the composition of their income, and they can do so in response to changes in government policies. ↗

— Arthur Laffer

#changes #composition #government #government policies #income