Quotes of the Week

From the Light:

“In all types of systems, the state wishes to co-opt other potential competitors for social authority, but this is perhaps easiest under democracy. The artistic, scientific, journalistic, academic, legal, and religious communities – each at points in history the most reliable opponents and critics of tyranny – become bought off, intimidated or tricked into rallying for more state power. Churches begin lobbying for tax exemptions – a separation of church and state – and sometimes end up pushing for subsidies. Artists go from being against the establishment to being propagandists for it (witness how Obamania has co-opted the counterculture; those who used to wear anti-U.S. Che Guevara shirts now sport the likeness of the next head of the U.S. empire).”
Anthony Gregory

“Why do people think an idea that would be ludicrous on the market makes sense in politics? Why do people continue to regard as saviors those whose record shows unfailing support for activities few of us practice on our own, such as plunder and war? If we want change for our betterment, we will turn to the realm in which we are sovereign and reject political solutions altogether. “
George F. Smith

“Socialists are thieves. They are worse than thieves, because they assume a pose of high moral dudgeon if we call them what they are, proceeding to claim the authorization of “majority support” for their crimes. They are in fact slavers, insisting we not only pay up, but do so with a smile and a happy little minstrel song.”
Vin Suprynowicz

"People, in general, are statist, parasitical, clueless, and gutless – they beg for government to do something. Of course, "something" is never clarified, but it means that the government is not doing nothing, which gives them great pleasure."
Karen De Coster

“What can be more insane than mankind’s continuing insistence upon playing out the simple-minded notion that the intricacies and variability of our complex world can be fully comprehended and rendered manageable by wise leaders. In a world caught up in the madness of wars, genocidal campaigns, economic depressions, and the resort – by some – to the despair implicit in suicide bombings, there is no better occasion for us to consider a major paradigm shift in our thinking.”
“Western civilization collapses all around us, and yet most of us continue to insist upon a renewed commitment to variations of the Platonic vision of a world made orderly by philosopher-kings.”
Butler Shaffer

“The burden of proof lies with those who favor any state whatsoever to demonstrate that an institution whose very existence is predicated on larceny ought to be permitted to exist and to command our willing obedience and respect. We have no respect for private gangsters, though we sometimes obey them out of fear. We ought to have no respect for public gangsters either, and we certainly should not pretend that we are obeying them out of any loftier sentiment than fear for our own safety.”
Michael Tennant

From the Darkness:

"What exposes us to failure now is not our product lineup or our business plan or our long-term strategy. What exposes us to failure now is the global financial crisis, which has severely restricted credit availability and reduces industry sales to the lowest per capita level since World War II."
Alan Mulally, CEO of Ford, begging for a taxpayer funded bailout

"But understand where the vision for change comes from. First and foremost, it comes from me. That's my job, is to provide a vision in terms of where we are going and to make sure then that my team is implementing."
The Man With Melanin (And Little Else) describing how the blind will be leading the blind.