Quotes About Government

The great tragedy of the drive to centralization, as of the drive to extend the scope of government in general, is that it is mostly led by men of goodwill who will be the first to rue its consequences

Economic freedom is an essential requisite for political freedom. By enabling people to cooperate with one another without coercion or central direction, it reduces the area over which political power is exercised. In addition, by dispersing power, the free market provides an offset to whatever concentration of political power may arise.

At the bottom of many criticisms of the market economy is really lack of belief in freedom itself.

The view that government's role is to serve as an umpire to prevent individuals from coercing one another was replaced by the view that government's role is to serve as a parent charged with the duty of coercing

A society that aims for equality before liberty will end up with neither equality nor liberty.

You can not simultaneously have free immigration and a welfare state.

The public at large thinks that government is too big.

There is a real function for government in respect to pollution: to set conditions and, in particular, define property rights to make sure that the costs are borne by the parties responsible.

a private enterprise is a failure, it closes down—unless it can get a government subsidy to keep it going; if a government enterprise fails, it is expanded. I challenge you to find exceptions. The

Se colocarmos o Estado para administrar o Deserto do Saara, em 5 anos faltará areia.

People who intend to serve only the public interest are led by an invisible hand to serve private interests which was no part of their intention.

The people in one district can choose not to reelect their member of Congress, but that will not change the composition of the government as a whole. You have to change the system and make it possible for the people's will to be heard.

Economic freedom is an essential requisite for political freedom. By enabling people to cooperate with one another without coercion or central direction, it reduces the area over which political power is exercised. In addition, by dispersing power, the free market provides an offset to whatever concentration of political power may arise. The combination of economic and political power in the same hands is a sure recipe for tyranny.

From the founding of the Republic to 1929, spending by governments at all levels, federal, state, and local, never exceeded 12 percent of the national income except in time of major war, and two-thirds of that was state and local spending. Federal spending typically amounted to 3 percent or less of the national income.

A solução do governo para um problema é normalmente tão ruim quanto o próprio problema.

Instead of Lincoln's government of the people, by the people, and for the people, we now have a government of the people, by the bureaucrats, for the bureaucrats, including the elected representatives who have become bureaucrats.

The Motor Carrier Act of 1935 gave the ICC jurisdiction over truckers—to protect the railroads, not the consumers.

Thomas Moore estimates that their aggregate value in 1972 was between $2 and $3 billion6—a value that corresponds solely to a government-granted monopoly position. It constitutes wealth for the people who own the certificates, but for the society as a whole it is a measure of the loss from government intervention, not a measure of productive capacity.

Despite habitual protests by civil servants and politicians that no such process is under way, the tortured and slow death of Internet privacy in the West, especially in the United Kingdom and the United States, is a sad – albeit visible – reality and is probably inevitable.

People don't die because of loyalty." They don't?" She smiled. "Religion? Government? Are we not loyal to such things, sometimes to the death?" Eddie shrugged. Better," she said, "to be loyal to one another.

His body had been weakened, the ocen had left him vulnerable, pneumonia took ahold of him, and in time, he died.' Because of Mickey?' Eddie said. Because of loyalty,' she said. People don't die because of loyalty.' They don't?' She smiled. 'Religion? Government? Are we not loyal to such things, sometimes to the death?... Better,... to be loyal to one another.' ~pg 138

It's all very well to run around saying regulation is bad, get the government off our backs, etc. Of course our lives are regulated. When you come to a stop sign, you stop; if you want to go fishing, you get a license; if you want to shoot ducks, you can shoot only three ducks. The alternative is dead bodies at the intersection, no fish, and no ducks. OK? ( Getting Control of the Frontier , Gainsville Sun, March 22, 1995)

There is no inverse relationship between freedom and security. Less of one does not lead to more of the other. People with no rights are not safe from terrorist attack.

Carl Parker observes, if you took all the fools out of the Lege, it wouldn't be a representative body anymore.