"Poor people! How much disillusionment is in store for them! It would have been so simple and so just to ease their burden by decreasing their taxes; they want to achieve this through the plentiful bounty of the state and they cannot see that the whole mechanism consists in taking away ten to give it back eight, not to mention the true freedom that will be destroyed in the operation!"
~ Frederic Bastiat, 1848
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Quote of the Day: Frederic Bastiat
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Bastiat is one of my favorite economists. I have to say however that what he and others of his ilk don't get is that there are many people for whom freedom isn't important.
ReplyDeleteI know this because I was in the military. I saw people who thrived in an environment where they were told what to wear, what to eat and given orders down to the point where they were practically told when to blow their nose. If they had to decide what to wear or , god forbid, what occupation they should pursue they would be at a loss.
The freedom so precious to many isn't so desired by others.