Mostly Economics

I have a large quote file that I add to several times a week—nearly every time I read Thomas Sowell, plus whenever something strikes me as relevant to this discussion of the interrelationships of the political, economic, and social/civilization spheres. Some days I just like to share a few. Most of today’s I gathered just in the past week or so. 

This first is a “liberal version” of the preamble to the Constitution, written by a facebook friend with a sense of humor. I should note that this friend is one of the principals of an online group called Not On This Watch—a clearinghouse of conservative ideas from around the country. I joined it the original day, when we were all frustrated at the passage of Obamacare the night before. You can find the page on facebook and “like” it to get frequent commentary and updates. Anyway, here’s the quote: 

We the liberals, in order to form a progressive utopia, establish social justice, promote economic disparity, undermine the common defense, promote perpetual welfare, and secure the entitlement of elite sovereignty to ourselves and our bureaucracy, do disdain and extinguish the Constitution of the United States of America.—Shawn Rogers, satirical thought of the day, 6-25-2011 

Here are a couple from my favorite economist, Thomas Sowell: 

We don’t need to send the country into bankruptcy, in the name of the poor, by spending trillions of dollars on people who are not poor, and who could take care of themselves. The poor have been used as human shields behind which the expanding welfare state can advance. 

The goal is not to keep the poor from starving but to create dependency, because dependency translates into votes for politicians who play Santa Claus. 

We have all heard the old saying about how giving a man a fish feeds him for a day, while teaching him to fish feeds him for a lifetime. Independence makes for a healthier society, but dependency is what gets votes for politicians. 

For politicians, giving a man a fish every day of his life is the way to keep getting his vote. “Entitlement” is just a fancy word for dependency. 

As for the scary stories politicians tell, in order to keep the entitlement programs going, as long as wee keep buying it, they will keep selling it.—Thomas Sowell, 5-24-2011

The American Revolution was not simply a rebellion against the King of England, it was a rebellion against being ruled by kings in general. That is why the opening salvo of the American Revolution was called “the shot heard round the world.—Thomas Sowell, 6-28-2011 

And one more for today: 

They can steal wealth that has been created. But they cannot force people to keep generating wealth to steal in the future…. 

U.S. politicians may rail against the ungrateful and unpatriotic rich, but the real enemies of America are those who achieve power by demonizing the successful while producing nothing useful themselves.—Doug Bandow, “Will Atlas Shrug?” American Spectator Blog, 6-25-2011