Tag: Politics

Guest Post by John W. Whitehead

“There is nothing more dangerous than a government of the many controlled by the few.”—Lawrence Lessig, Harvard law professor

It is easy to be distracted right now by the bread and circus politics that have dominated the news headlines lately, but don’t be distracted.

Don’t be fooled, not even a little.

We’re being subjected to the oldest con game in the books, the magician’s sleight of hand that keeps you focused on the shell game in front of you while your wallet is being picked clean by ruffians in your midst.

This is how tyranny rises and freedom falls.

What characterizes American government today is not so much dysfunctional politics as it is ruthlessly contrived governance carried out behind the entertaining, distracting and disingenuous curtain of political theater. And what political theater it is, diabolically Shakespearean at times, full of sound and fury, yet in the end, signifying nothing.

We are being ruled by a government of scoundrels, spies, thugs, thieves, gangsters, ruffians, rapists, extortionists, bounty hunters, battle-ready warriors and cold-blooded killers who communicate using a language of force and oppression.

The U.S. government now poses the greatest threat to our freedoms.

More than terrorism, more than domestic extremism, more than gun violence and organized crime, even more than the perceived threat posed by any single politician, the U.S. government remains a greater menace to the life, liberty and property of its citizens than any of the so-called dangers from which the government claims to protect us.

Continue reading “Circus Politics Are Intended to Distract Us. Don’t Be Distracted”

Guest Post by Doug Casey via International Man

The terms liberal (left) and conservative (right) define the conventional political spectrum. But the terms are floating abstractions, with meanings that change with every politician.

In the nineteenth century, a “liberal” believed in free speech, social mobility, limited government and strict property rights. The term has since been appropriated by those who, while sometimes still believing in limited free speech, always support strong government and weak property rights and who see everyone as a member of a class or group.

Conservatives have always tended to believe in strong government and nationalism. Bismarck and Metternich were archetypes. Today’s conservatives are sometimes seen as defenders of economic liberty and free markets, although that is mostly only true when those concepts are perceived to coincide with the interests of big business and economic nationalism.

Continue reading “Doug Casey on How to Solve the Problem of Politics in the Divided States of America”

“Every government intervention creates unintended consequences which lead to calls for more government interventions.”

Ludwig von Mises

“Political correctness is simply tyranny with manners.”

Charlton Heston

“Governments harangue about deficits to get more revenue so they can spend more.”

Allan H. Meltzer

“Preventive war is like committing suicide out of fear of death.”

Otto von Bismarck

Guest Post by The Zman

A good salesman, in the business of providing a complex product or service, will tell you that his first step in any deal is to see if there is a deal to be had. He will assess the potential customer to learn if there is a need and if the prospect knows there is a need for the product or service. Assessing needs and motivations is a big part of determining if the salesman should commit his time to the deal. Finally, he tries to assess the prospect’s willingness to actually commit to a potential deal.

Continue reading “Walking Away From The Deal”

“You cannot adopt politics as a profession and remain honest.”

Ambrose Bierce

“The government’s War on Poverty has transformed poverty from a short-term misfortune into a career choice.”

Harry Browne

“Preventive war is like committing suicide out of fear of death.”

Otto von Bismarck

“It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere.”

Voltaire

“The difference between a welfare state and a totalitarian state is a matter of time.”

Ayn Rand

“If you can’t steal from your neighbor, you can’t send the government to steal for you.”

Ron Paul

“A great man is hard on himself; a small man is hard on others.”

Confucius

“Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.”

Groucho Marx

Via Branco

“Democracy consists of choosing your dictators, after they’ve told you what you think it is you want to hear.”

Alan Corenk

“Guns are dangerous. The only thing more dangerous is not having them.”

G. Edward Griffin

“If you injected truth into politics, you’d have no politics.”

Will Rogers

“The smallest minority is the individual.”

Ayn Rand