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At any given moment there is an orthodoxy,
a body of ideas which it is assumed all right-thinking people will accept without question.
It is not exactly forbidden to state this or that or the other, but it is "not done"...
Anyone who challenges the prevailing orthodoxy finds himself silenced with surprising effectiveness.
A genuinely unfashionable opinion is almost never given a fair hearing,
either in the popular press or in the highbrow periodicals..
~ George Orwell ~ [Eric Arthur Blair] (1903-1950)
British author
All men have equal rights to liberty,
to their property,
and to the protection of the laws..
~ Voltaire ~ [François Marie Arouet] (1694-1778)
Source.. Essay on Manners, 1756
The voice of the majority
is no proof of justice..
~ Johann von Schiller ~
[Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller]
Because just as good morals, if they are to be maintained,
have need of the laws, so the laws, if they are to be observed,
have need of good morals..
~ Niccolo Machiavelli ~ (1469-1527)
Italian Statesman and Political Philosopher
When you start talking about government as
'we' instead of 'they,'
you have been in office too long..
~ Ronald Reagan ~ (1911-2004)
40th US President
Comments on this quote:
We The People were to be a Representative Republic, limited by a Constitution that was based on the laws of nature and of nature's God (for one reason - because of the hate and fear the founders had for democracy). What 'We've' ended up with is a socialistic theocracy where the slaves are allowed to choose who will represent the alien Theocracy's despots in suppressing the once noble We The People. "They" detest and work against inalienable rights.
-- Mike, Norwalk
"A man is no less a slave because he is allowed to choose a new master once in a term of years" (Lysander Spooner). Amerika's jailers - the "we' - having no regard for Constitutional / Natural Law look at the once sovereign(s) "they" as chattel to be driven and disposed of as is most profitable for the "we".
-- Mike, Norwalk
Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program..
~ Milton Friedman ~ (1912-2006)
Nobel Prize-winning economist, economic advisor to President Ronald Reagan, "ultimate guru of the free-market system"
Politicians never accuse you of 'greed'
for wanting other people's money --
only for wanting to keep your own money..
~ Joseph Sobran ~ (1946-2010)
Columnist
Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly,
while bad people will find a way around the laws..
~ Plato ~ (429-347 BC)
Comments about this quote:
Plato understood the REAL meaning and use of 'morality' - Not the government forced coercion that most atheists claim morality to be, but the inward need of moral values and virtues in the heart of every individual. Pre-emptive laws only make honest people honest - it does nothing to deter crime. A criminal has no inward 'morality' that governs his actions; hence, the need for jails and prisons - to take law breakers out of society because they cannot control their actions and are a danger to society. Criminal's break the law with no thought TO the law - how do you control such people? You can't - that is, without personally restraining him and taking him out of society. This establishes Plato's thought: "Good people" have a certain inward law or code (morality) within themselves that make them able to be self governing, regardless of any outward law - "Bad people", on the other hand, have no 'code' or inward set of 'values' (morality) and need the forcible structure of the law.
-- Logan, Memphis, TN
Criminals don't and never will register their guns, while law abiding citizens do. What good is infringement of our rights, when criminals don't care? Good people are then disadvantaged, while criminals are GIVEN an advantage. When a criminals breaks into my home at 3 a.m. carrying a machinegun with 100 rounds, am I supposed to say "hey, you can't have that" as he shoots me dead? I should be able to legally own a machinegun with 100 rounds if that's the way I choose to defend my life.
-- Joe, Rochester, MI
Joe...You should be permitted to own any gun you choose, according to the principle of deterrence against potential tyranny in government, which was promoted by the writers of the Second Amendment. The people cannot establish a deterrence against government incursion into tyranny, while automatic assault weapons are in the hands of the military, but not in the hands of the people.
-- David L. Rosenthal , Hollywood
Five stars for general sentiment. The trouble with this quote (in English) is the use of the words 'good' and 'bad', both of which are awful ('bad' - LOL) words. These words persistently and insidiously avoid the fact that they are both evaluative, subjective, and indistinct (nebulous) in their application. I mean, few seem willing to admit that what they call 'good' is simply what they 'like' or that what they call 'bad' is simply what they 'dislike'. Logan; Plato isn't addressing 'morality'. Plato is addressing 'responsible ACTION' ("... act responsibly") in relation to laws and the observance of laws. - It would be illuminating if you were to provide some insight into just EXACTLY how you've arrived at your assertion that 'most atheists claim morality is government forced coercion' ("... - the government forced coercion that most atheists claim morality to be, ..."). Your assertion makes me wonder how many atheists you know or if you know any at all, let alone whether you have any idea what 'most' atheists 'claim'. Perhaps you have some writings by atheists to back up your assertions. I'd be fascinated to read them. I'd side with Madalyn Murray O'Hair: "An Atheist believes that a hospital should be built instead of a church. An Atheist believes that a deed must be done instead of a prayer said. An Atheist strives for involvement in life and not escape into death. He wants disease conquered, poverty vanished, war eliminated."
-- Terry Berg, Occidental, CA
The argument here is simply mis-applied definition - 'Morality' as defined in early Judeo-Christian writings was the source of all desire towards action. Sure, there needs to be actions, but towards what? A Boy Scout may be praised for helping an old lady across the road (action) but it is the inward 'morality' factor that says whether or not he will rob her or simply shake her hand when they are safely on the other side. You speak of Madalyn Murray O'Hair - how appropriate - her son wrote of her, "My mother was an evil person ... Not for removing prayer from America’s schools ... No ... She was just evil. She stole huge amounts of money. She misused the trust of people. She cheated children out of their parents’ inheritance. She cheated on her taxes and even stole from her own organizations. She once printed up phony stock certificates on her own printing press to try to take over another atheist publishing company. I could go on but I won’t. All the money my mother made in this manner stayed behind. It did not go with her." This is but one proof that Atheism has no 'moral' code... Actions? Perhaps - but towards what? Madalyn Murray O'Hair is the perfect example of atheist action - hospitals should be built instead of flagrant prayers? Absolutely! But at what cost? Philosophically, religiously, politically, or historically - in order for society to stand, a certain 'moral code' needs to exist within the hearts of the people - a 'code' that says something is right or something is wrong.
-- Logan, Memphis, TN
The nanny-State guarantees submission and irresponsibility. It transforms the People into chattel property. We must be free -- we have no choice.
-- E Archer, NYC
Logan; You'll recall I started out my post with the idea of general sentiment. The 'family' (I use the term loosely for this particular 'non-relationship') dynamics, between Madalyn Murray O'Hair and her son William, are my idea of hell. She was coarse, abrasive, unforgiving, hypercritical, and zealous in her pursuit of giving Christianity a bad name (having failed to grasp that it needs no help whatsoever on that count - LOL) - a bit like Pat Robertson is in vilifying non-Christians. Zealotry of any ilk seems to have limited usefulness in most debates. She was clearly NOT happy with the fact that on Mother's Day 1980, her oldest son William came flouncing out of the closet revealing to the world not only that he believed in God, but that he himself was a diehard, evangelical, salary tithing, gospel singing bible-thumping Christian Baptist. (source: rotten.com). She responded by disowning him - not exactly the response of a tolerant person nor that of a typical mother nor is it admirable. William's resentment and inclination to strike back is clearly understandable in view of her dominating posture towards him. I've not been able to find any evidence to support your contentions that "She misused the trust of people. She cheated children out of their parent's inheritance. She cheated on her taxes and even stole from her own organizations. She once printed up phony stock certificates on her own printing press to try to take over another atheist publishing company." I'd love to see the documentation supporting these assertions. Perhaps you could supply them. What I HAVE found is a detailing of the involvement of David R. Waters (a typesetter in AA's printing department [suspicious] with a long rap sheet) and two accomplices, Gary Karr and Danny Fry, in the theft of funds from AA (Austin Police Department, Offense #94-0991028 which was not followed up on by the authorities in the way that a church theft would have been), as well as the kidnapping and murder of Madalyn Murray O'Hair, Jon Garth Murray, and Robin Murray O'Hair sometime around late September of 1995. Waters was convicted of contributing to the disappearance of the O'Hairs, and sentenced to 20 years in prison for extortion. Waters died of lung cancer in January of 2003 in a federal prison hospital in North Carolina. Danny Fry's headless and handless corpse was found in 1995 on a Dallas County river bank. The FBI's affidavit contained allegations from an Internal Revenue Service agent that former American Atheists office manager David R. Waters plotted to steal $600,000 from O'Hair's "United Secularists of America" organization. The affidavit also alleged that Waters "expressed fantasies of killing Madalyn." The treatment of the entire affair, quite frankly, reeks of an all too typical 'Christian' underhandedness when dismissing 'non-Christians' as not 'moral' enough to merit 'equal protection under the law'. You might not 'like' a person like Madalyn Murray O'Hair but the SENTIMENT of her quote holds up quite nicely. If you place 'morality' above hospitals it announces clearly what kind of 'morality' you subscribe to.
-- Terry Berg, Occidental, CA
Plato had it right...how prescient he was...human nature doesn't change. Even our pols - nay, especially our pols - find their ways around laws: even the president.
-- A.Jurgensen, Stuart, FL
If good people were needed to be responsible, they would not have to be told what to do because it is pure common sense, they take responsible actions. People are considered 'bad' because of laws. In order to be bad, one must break a law. In fact the people being called 'good' have an unfair disadvantage with the law. As the 'bad' people with no morals do whatever they want with their likings. Who is to say what is good or bad? Laws are created to protect. To protect what though? Laws can be wrong. An innocent man may be accused because someone thought, because of his morals, he had done wrong. When in reality he meant right. No one is good or bad until we have a set of standards to follow.
-- C. Vazquez, Chicago, IL
I do not think that there are some people who are just good and others are bad however we all have what we call positive and negative sites, strengths and weakness. Patrick Lonkoy Bolengu DR Congo.
-- Patrick Lonkoy Bolengu, Basankusu
I'm with those that reference some aspect of the subjectivity of good or bad. It has been my experience that when one person calls another person "good" - that simply means the good person is less violent than ? If good is used here as a responsibility characterization (character, moral, ethics, etc.) of obedience to law - that natural law to which there is no immediate response by justice (larceny, murder, prevarication, etc.) then here there is no confusion and the statement stands absolute. Bad people would then be those of force (lacking personal responsibility), finding ways round the laws (or natural law); by way of example: bad people would act as gods in legislating, adjudicating and enforcing compelled compliance, license, victimless crimes, larceny with impunity (property / income / life-insurances taxes, funny money, etc.) non-allodial freehold / anti-perfected and absolute ownership without threat of confiscation, and that all rights (such as marriage) derive from the god's priesthood (man's carnal government).
-- Mike, Norwalk
My guess: Plato's observation's translation in today's parlance:
"It is what it is."
-- all the rest is definition, allegation, obfuscation.
But -- as is the case in nearly every case -- I / you / we -- could be wrong .. er .. incorrect .. er .. unlawful .. er .. immoral ....
-- Bob Leavitt, Charlotte, VT
Well said Logan, Plato has a saying amongst those that are blind, Eu a Mousoi , happily without the muses.
God tells us that he frustrates the tokens of liars. Plato would have known this also. Evil pursues a violent man.
-- Ron w13, Or
I often wonder whether we do not rest our hopes
too much upon constitutions, upon law and upon courts.
These are false hopes, believe me, these are false hopes.
Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women;
when it dies there,
no constitution, no law, no court can save it;
no constitution, no law, no court can even do much to help it.
While it lies there it needs no constitution, no law, no courts to save it..
~ Judge Learned Hand ~ (1872-1961)
Judge, U. S. Court of Appeals
Comments about this quote:
Great quote. I don't think liberty ever dies in the heart. It just becomes reinterpreted to mean something other than what it truly means. After all, most Americans will swear up and down that they ARE free, but this is because they've been taught the watered down version of what freedom is, a government-media-schools-etc. free democracy version.
-- Dan
The degree to which our "constitutional" US government violates our rights of life, liberty and property is all the evidence necessary for us to not put our faith in written constitutions. Defending rights will always be a personal responsibility.
-- Bryan Morton, Stuart, FL
Excellent quote and an obvious observation. This is why we must be for ever vigilant of those who wish to exploit the vagaries and apathy of its slaves. We must maintain that flame and courage that brought about our freedom. We must be active continually if we are to retain the hopes and freedoms we fought so hard to achieve. The Bushites of this world are always there eroding inch by inch our freedom - wanting us to be slaves and for ever beholden to the system. I just hope we have enough Connor's out there to keep us safe from these megalomaniacs. As Benjamin Franklin said "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
-- RobertSRQ
Our Congress forgot about the Constitution a long time ago.
-- jim k, austin
Amen. If we eliminated the written and visible trappings of our society or state we would still have the unwritten trappings of social mores (the content of their hearts). Native Americans and South Sea Islanders all had social mores without these documents. That is why in democracy (government by discussion) these things can be Amended and modified and it is said that "law is a living thing" it evolves with the lives of its adherents.
-- Waffler, Smith, Arkansas
So very true. I have to wonder what the judge would say about liberty in the US today.
-- Goop, Gloucester
Two of the world's greatest problems: The failure of most people to distinguish between money and wealth, The other is the failure of most people to distinguish between freedom and slavery. In these Orwellian times, credit is money, freedom is slavery.and intimidation is bravery.
-- Dave Wilbur, St. Louis, MO
Ever so a lesser men with their corrupt heart make this world the evil, shrouded in the cloak of creed and greed. When I hear this statement, my hands shake, because it is so visceral.
-- RKA, Wasilla
Indeed. We will only have liberty when we are ready to give it to everyone else. As well, freedom means responsibility -- those that wish to live off the taxation of others would sell their freedom for comfortable servitude, and expect the rest to do the same.
-- E Archer, NYC
Well said Archer. The people who are living off the taxation of others are those who would break the tax laws while letting their friends and neighbors shoulder the responsibility of paying for their defense etc. Getting the benefits of citizenship and government for free.
-- Waffler, Smith, Arkansas
WOW ! ! ! Such a great truth. The Constitution, law, justice etc only define freedom and liberty. Unless it is in the hearts of the sovereigns, all else is useless vapor. What a sad, sad, sad, commentary on today's Amerika.
-- Mike, Norwalk
A INSECURE SOCIETY INDEED! HONESTY, TRUTH, and VIRTUE, are GASPING! DEATH, is IMMINENT
-- F.M. SWEENEY, Hamilton. Ont.
Liberty lives in the hearts of Patriots... if we could only convince the "Loyalists"
-- J Carlton, Calgary
Yes. Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women because TRUE LIBERTY is a GOD GIVEN RIGHT and the Constitution of the United States of America was written by people who understood that and to that end,these Founding Fathers of the USA drew up a document to Acknowledge and Secure these God Given Rights and Liberties for their future posterity by forming The Bill of Rights and the US. Constitution so that the God Given Rights and Liberties of a Free and Sovereign People would be SECURE and to that end,the United States was originally formed. It is the Duty of our Servant government to uphold these TRUTHS and to ensure their fruitful existence through APPROPRIATE means. OUR HOPES as a nation and a people have NOTHING to do with the US Constitution and Bill of Rights. It's NOT about our hopes. It's about our God Given Rights as a Sovereign, Free People to live our lives as we see fit in the pursuit of our own personal happiness (as long as we don't infringe on the same rights for others to do the same) and that is the proper duty of US law-makers to ensure these things. It has been said that "man can not legislate what God has ordained". Our God Given Rights as humans supersede any man-made right or liberty. It is these God Given Rights that our nation's founders sought to secure, promote and up-hold. I think that's a good place to start as we contemplate United States Government Reform.
-- Me Again
"No man's life , liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in session."
-- jim k, austin tx
The above quote is credited to Mark Twain , but it was probably first said by Gideon J Tucker.
-- jim k, austin tx
What, a great quote of common sense ! A note concerning natural law, Muses, or tokens if you will are granted to those that walk upright ( honest ). God frustrates the tokens of liars !
Muses or tokens are reveled through number. It takes word and number to store science, ( knowledge ). One of the most prevalent is the number 7, which is the token of the word seven, a symbol of ( Completion, perfection ) circular in where ever it appears in nature. The Potter has power over the clay, and the saw. Experiments always have a duration of time.
The word ( liberty = 7 ), ( Freedom = 7 ) seven notes in sound and light. " I have hidden thy word in my heart " that I might not sin against the. These nodal lines appear in the heart of the believer. The simple law of Chladni, exposes this as fact, and direct communication with our Creator. Truly he is a God that hides himself. Not only does God frustrate the tokens of liars, he also states that evil pursues a violent man. Therefore these truths must be taught of natural law in Order to convey the harmony of our song of liberty and freedom from God in a practical way. As Plato has a saying amongst those that are blind, " Eu a Mousoi " Happily without the muses.
-- Ron w13, Or
There are not enough jails, not enough policemen, not enough courts
to enforce a law not supported by the people..
~ Hubert H. Humphrey ~ (1911-1978)
US Vice-President, US Senator (D-MN)
Comments about this quote:
The concept is sufficiently accurate enough on its face BUT, there are a multitude of other persuasions. By way of example: in 1913 a trifecta of evil was perpetrated on the people to make them accept the religion of socialism, complete with its absolute canons of legal positivism ((1) Social Security, (2) Income tax and the (3) Federal Reserve, all being connected). To make the free sovereigns accept debt (notes) in place of money, income tax was implemented to demonstrate a worth to the debt (backed by threat of prison) further, a promise was made to pay for each person's retirement with the new notes. A once land of the free and home of the brave sold their birth right and soul for a mess of pottage.
-- Mike, Norwalk
But the government is subsidized by those that do not obey the arbitrary dictates of government, and they have authorized themselves to seize the assets of those that will not surrender to their 'authority'. This is classic monarchy, but now merely a government bureau that needs to be fed. The prison industry is a multi-billion dollar business. Man, will America ever wake up to the hypocrisy?!
-- E Archer, NYC
The Lawyer hopes you get into trouble.
The Doctor hopes you get sick.
The Police hope you become a Criminal.
The Teacher hopes you are born stupid.
The Landlord hopes you do not buy a House.
The Dentist hopes your Teeth decay.
The Mechanic hopes your Car breaks down.
The Coffin maker wants you dead.
Only the Thief wishes you Prosperity in Life and also wishes you have a Sound Sleep.
LEXOPHILE:
Lexophile is a word used to describe those who love using words in rather unique ways, such as "you can tune a piano, but you can't tuna fish", or "to write with a broken pencil is pointless."
A competition is held every year to see who can come up with the best one.
This year's winning submission is posted at the very end.
1. When fish are in schools, they sometimes take debate.
2. A thief who stole a calendar got twelve months.
3. When the smog lifts in Los Angeles U.C.L.A.
4. The batteries were given out free of charge.
5. A dentist and a manicurist married. They fought tooth and nail.
6. A will is a dead giveaway.
7. With her marriage, she got a new name and a dress.
8. A boiled egg is hard to beat.
9. When you've seen one shopping Center you've seen a mall.
10. Police were called to a day care Center where a three-year-old was resisting a rest.
11. Did you hear about the fellow whose whole left side was cut off? He's all right now.
12. A bicycle can't stand alone; it is two tired.
13. When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds.
14. The guy who fell onto an upholstery machine is now fully recovered.
15. He had a photographic memory which was never developed.
16. When she saw her first strands of gray hair she thought she'd dye.
17. Acupuncture is a jab well done. That's the point of it.
Liberal Judges in 1967 would appear conservative today. That is how far down the socialist cesspool the bankers have taken our great country.
The chief enemies of republican freedom are
mental sloth, conformity, bigotry, superstition, credulity,
monopoly in the market of ideas,
and utter, benighted ignorance..
Adderley v. State of Florida, 385 U.S. 39, 49 (1967)
by MR. JUSTICE DOUGLAS
with whom THE CHIEF JUSTICE, MR. JUSTICE BRENNAN, and MR. JUSTICE FORTAS concur, dissenting.
In the first place,
we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us,
he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin.
But this is predicated upon the person´s becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American...
There can be no divided allegiance here.
Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn´t an American at all.
We have room for but one flag, the American flag..
We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language...
and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people..
~ Theodore Roosevelt ~
On his ideas on Immigrants and being an AMERICAN in 1907
Of all the enemies to public liberty,
war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded,
because it comprises and develops the germ of every other.
War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes;
and armies, and debts, and taxes are the known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few.
In war, too, the discretionary power of the Executive is extended;
its influence in dealing out offices, honors, and emoluments is multiplied;
and all the means of seducing the minds, are added to those of subduing the force, of the people. . . .
[There is also an] inequality of fortunes, and the opportunities of fraud, growing out of a state of war,
and . . . degeneracy of manners and of morals. . . .
No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare..
~ James Madison ~
I confidently trust that the American people will prove themselves...
too wise not to detect the false pride or the dangerous ambitions or the selfish schemes which so often hide themselves under that deceptive cry of mock patriotism:
'Our country, right or wrong!'
They will not fail to recognize that our dignity, our free institutions and the peace and welfare of this and coming generations of Americans will be secure only as we cling to the watchword of true patriotism:
'Our country--when right to be kept right; when wrong to be put right..'
~Senator Carl Schurz ~
October 17, 1899
They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. The millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable--and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come.
It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace-- but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!
~Patrick Henry ~
Speaking for himself, and every decent American since
If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land
it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy..
~ James Madison ~
...freedom of person under the protection of the habeas corpus
and trial by juries impartially selected.
These principles form the bright constellation which has gone before us
and guided our steps through an age of revolution and reformation..
~ Thomas Jefferson ~
The whole aim of practical politics
is to keep the populace alarmed
(and hence clamorous to be led to safety)
by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins
all of them imaginary..
~ H. L. Mencken ~
Taxes are not raised to carry on wars
wars are raised to carry on taxes..
~ Thomas Paine ~
The more laws the more offenders..
~ Dr. Thomas Fuller ~ (1608-1661)
English clergyman, writer
Source.. Gnomologia, 1732
Reader comments about this quote:
More criminals (socialist zealots) in local, regional, state, federal, etc. government - the more laws ({anti-law tyranny -> compelled compliance, license, victimless crimes, larceny with impunity, no private ownership enforcement and no recognition of individual inalienable right(s)) the more offenders to be controlled as slaves.
-- Mike, Norwalk
"The perfect walking library " Dr. Fuller was known as. Wit unmatched by his contemporaries. He studied to live, and lived to study. Mike hits the nail on the head most every time ! Jim to. !
-- Ron w13, Or
A police state needs 'criminals' to survive. There is ABSOLUTELY no intention to reduce crime in America, quite the opposite. Too many people depend on the 'justice system' and 'law enforcement' for their living. Just make more rules and fines for breaking them. It's just another form of 'tax' and grants the power to utterly break an individual into submission. Once you are deemed a 'law breaker', there are literally no more limits to what the 'authorities' may do to you. Mounting a defense costs money, making deals costs money -- look who earns a living from the 'justice system'. The drug war is the biggest racket in the police state - cops, judges, lawyers, politicians, prison guards, drug testing labs, tax men -- ALL depend on the drug war, as well as all the checkpoints, scanners, borders, highway men that shake us down in our travels. The corruption of the legal system allows the police state to grow to fascist levels - Hitler has nothing on today's US police state.
-- E Archer, NYC
No! Offenders are still going to break the laws no matter what. Criminals are out to be lowlifes. Laws have nothing to do with this. Nothing.
-- Cynthia, Brownsville, Tx.
Cynthia, your statement is absolutely correct if you narrow the context of subject to natural law (One of the 'natural law' references by the U.S. founders was 'unalienable right'). The law exists no matter the legislative, executive or judicial prowess of man. It is in that scope "Offenders are still going to break the laws no matter what. Criminals are out to be lowlifes." Politicians, as well as all other murderers, thieves and lowlifes will continue to break natural law. My example above, that of lowlifes legislating, enforcing and adjudicating license and victimless crimes is a very terse illustration of criminals breaking the law.
-- Mike, Norwalk
If you have 10,000 regulations
you destroy all respect for the law..
~ Sir Winston Churchill ~ (1874-1965)
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The minute you read something that you can't understand
you can almost be sure
it was drawn up by a lawyer..
~ Will Rogers ~(1879-1935)
American humorist
None can love freedom but good men
the rest love not freedom, but license
which never hath more scope than under tyrants..
~ John Milton ~ (1608-1674)
Poet
Source.. The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates
When is conduct a crime
and when is a crime not a crime?
When Somebody Up There -- a monarch, a dictator, a Pope, a legislator --
so decrees...
~ Jessica Mitford ~ (1917-1996)
Self-described 'muckraker' and political radical
No one ever heard of the truth being enforced by law
Whenever the secular arm is called in to sustain an idea, whether new or old
it is always a bad idea, and not infrequently it is downright idiotic..
~ H. L. Mencken ~ (1880-1956)
American Journalist, Editor, Essayist, Linguist, Lexicographer, and Critic
The greatest danger to liberty today
comes from the men who are most needed
and most powerful in modern government,
namely, the efficient expert administrators
exclusively concerned with what they regard
as the public good..
~ Friedrich August von Hayek ~ (1899-1992)
Nobel Laureate of Economic Sciences 1974
Source.. The Constitution of Liberty, 1960
The more subsidized it is, the less free it is
What is known as 'free education' is the least free of all,
for it is a state-owned institution; it is socialized education
-- just like socialized medicine or the socialized post office --
and cannot possibly be separated from political control..
~ Frank Chodorov ~ (1887-1966)
American author, publisher
1948
Source.. "Why Free Schools Are Not Free," Fugitive Essays: Selected Writings of Frank Chodorov
We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing,
while others judge us by what we have already done..
~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ~ (1807-1882)
American poet
Mankind are greater gainers by suffering each other to live as seems good to themselves,
than by compelling each to live as seems good to the rest..
~ John Stuart Mill ~ (1806-1873)
English philosopher and economist
Source.. On Liberty, 1859
Were we directed from Washington
when to sow and when to reap,
we should soon want bread..
~ Thomas Jefferson ~ (1743-1826)
Within seven centuries, [the ancient Greeks] invented for itself,
epic, elegy, lyric, tragedy, novel, democratic government, political and economic science, history, geography, philosophy, physics and biology;
and made revolutionary advances in architecture, sculpture, painting, music, oratory, mathematics, astronomy, medicine, anatomy, engineering, law and war...
a stupendous feat for whose most brilliant state Attica was the size of Hertfordshire, with a free population (including children) of perhaps 160,000..
~ F. J. Lucas ~
Given that the nineteenth century was the century of Socialism, of Liberalism, and of Democracy,
it does not necessarily follow that the twentieth century must also be a century of Socialism, Liberalism and Democracy:
political doctrines pass, but humanity remains
and it may rather be expected that this will be a century of authority ... a century of Fascism.
For if the nineteenth century was a century of individualism it may be expected that this will be the century of collectivism and hence the century of the State..
~ Beni to Mussolini ~ (1883-1945)
Italian dictator during WW2
Source.. "Fascism," Italian Encyclopaedia, 1932
I never submitted the whole system of my opinions to the creed of any party of men whatever
in religion, in philosophy, in politics or in anything else, where I was capable of thinking for myself.
Such an addiction is the last degradation of a free and moral agent.
If I could not go to Heaven but with a party, I would not go there at all..
~ Thomas Jefferson ~ (1743-1826)
Source.. Letter to F. Hopkinson, Paris, March 13, 1789
And this one will make the rounds as well
Love this one. It will make my Facebook and emails
Many of the greatest things man has achieved
are not the result of consciously directed thought
and still less the product of a deliberately coordinated effort of many individuals
but of a process in which the individual plays a part which he can never fully understand..
~ Friedrich August von Hayek ~ (1899-1992)
Nobel Laureate of Economic Sciences 1974
The opinion of ten thousand men
is of no value
if none of them know anything about the subject..
~ Marcus Aurelius ~ (121-180)
[Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus]
Roman emperor (161-180)
As is a tale, so is life
not how long it is, but how good it is
is what matters..
~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca ~ (4 B.C.-A.D. 65)
Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, dramatist
The first step to truly living a good and fearless life
is accepting responsibility for your actions
Accepting what part you had in any situation
Difficult, to say the least, but liberating..
~ Jann Arden ~ (1962-)
Canadian singer-songwriter
Don't say you don't have enough time
You have exactly the same number of hours per day
that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michaelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein..
~ H. Jackson Brown ~ (1940-)
American author
To see what is in front of one's nose
requires a constant struggle..
~ George Orwell ~ (1903-1950)
[Eric Arthur Blair], British author
Sometimes people hold a core belief that is very strong
When they are presented with evidence that works against that belief
the new evidence cannot be accepted
It would create a feeling that is extremely uncomfortable
called cognitive dissonance
And because it is so important to protect the core belief
they will rationalize, ignore and even deny anything that doesn't fit in
with the core belief..
~ Frantz Fanon ~ (1925-1961)
Martinique-born Afro-French psychiatrist, philosopher, revolutionary, and writer
You are neither right nor wrong because the crowd disagrees with you
You are right because your data and reasoning are right..
~ Benjamin Graham ~ (1894-1976)
British-born American professional investor
Most ignorance is vincible ignorance
We don't know
because we don't want to know..
~ Aldous Huxley ~ (1894-1963)
Author
As a rule, panics do not destroy capital
they merely reveal the extent to which it has been destroyed
by its betrayal into hopelessly unproductive works..
~ John Mills ~
Source.. article read before the Manchester Statistical Society, December 11, 1867, on Credit Cycles and the Origin of Commercial Panics
Our whole system of banks is a violation
of every honest principle of banks
There is no honest bank but a bank of deposit
A bank that issues paper at interest is a pickpocket or a robber
But the delusion will have its course
An aristocracy is growing out of them
that will be as fatal as the feudal barons if unchecked in time..
~ John Adams ~ (1735-1826)
Founding Father, 2nd US President
Source.. John Adams to Benjamin Rush: Dec. 27, 1810
The purpose of studying economics
is not to acquire a set of ready-made answers to economic questions
but to learn how to avoid being deceived by economists..
~ Joan Robinson ~ (1903-1983)
Economist, professor at Cambridge University
Nothing is so difficult as not deceiving oneself..
~ Ludwig Wittgenstein ~ (1889-1951)
Austrian-British philosopher
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