Sunday, June 17, 2012

Quotes of the Week

From the Light:
“The rationalization for the existence of political systems has, at least since the Enlightenment, depended upon the illusion of a ‘social contract‘; that governments come into existence only through the 'consent of the governed' as expressed in a written constitution. I know of no state system that ever originated by a contract among individuals.”
Butler Shaffer

“I have often wondered how cops would be incentivized if their everyday job behavior could cost them their jobs and all future livelihood for the rest of their lives if their perennial abuses were not socialized over the taxpayers in their towns and cities for their bad judgment and violence against civilians. By extension, would it not be intriguing if all the collectivist fetishists in the American academy had to actually live in the societies they advocate for and had to live in isolated colonies for a long period of time under the rules they advocate?”
Bill Buppert

“Maybe government didn't ‘free’ humans to develop culture and civilization, as has been claimed- maybe those things developed and evolved as a sort of immune response to the deadly threat posed by government's growth; an evolutionary arms race.”
Kent McManigal

“'We' is one of the most dangerous words in the English language, particularly when bandied about in Western representative democracy.
It's a term often used when a politician wants to thrust a burden or obligation onto everyone else's shoulders, but without being too direct about it.
'We' masks responsibility by pushing the burden to some nebulous collective like 'society' or 'the country' rather than directly to individuals. This makes things much more palatable.”
Simon Black

“What's lost in the whole ‘gun violence’ mania is that guns aren't violent; people are violent.
The true definition of 'gun violence,' say libertarians, is disarming everyone using the threat of laws enforced by government guns.”
Garry Reed

“The only framework within which genuine democracy can exist is voluntary association of equals, in which we are all recognized as ends rather than means, and our right to informed consent on matters that affect us is respected. You’ll never find that within the state.”
Kevin Carson

“Globalization (as the centralization of power) presents social harmony as imposed control, human rights as defined by one agency, and efficiency as a one-size-fits-all process. Globalization is the ultimate in social engineering.
Implicit here is the notion that competition is wrong or wasteful. Absent here is the idea of freedom or personal choice.”
Wendy McElroy

“Congress is addicted to the allure of doing 'something.' Trusting free people to make rational choices is not considered ‘something.’ They are addicted to the belief that if there is a problem, there must be a legislative solution.”
Peter Schiff

“The Judeo-Christian and constitutionally mandated relationship between government power and individual liberty is not balance. It is bias – a bias in favor of liberty. All presumptions should favor the natural rights of individuals, not the delegated and seized powers of the government. Individual liberty, not government power, is the default position because persons are immortal and created in God's image, and governments are temporary and based on force.”
Andrew P. Napolitano

“Our rights to life and liberty are evident from the time of our very existence. These rights encompass all others, for without the right to life, and the freedom to sustain and protect that life; no other rights could possibly exist. Pieces of paper secretly drafted by politicians in the dark of night cannot give or protect rights, as those same politicians, or those who follow in their footsteps, could arbitrarily change the rules at any time of their choosing. For any set of rules to be valid, they first have to be accepted voluntarily by the individuals involved, and actively defended at every turn. But today, those individuals affected rely on a small group of corrupt politicians called 'representatives,' to act in their behalf, instead of taking responsibility for their own lot in life. That, in my opinion, is a recipe for tyranny.”
Gary D. Barnett

“The evils of tyranny are rarely seen but by him who resists it.”
John Hay
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From the Darkness:
"We have made it very clear that we are going to continue to defend ourselves. This is about our sovereignty as well."
Leon Panetta, defending his drone killing in Pakistan [“Defend yourselves?” The only reason you’re being “attacked” because you have invaded and occupied someone else’s home and property.]

“There’s evil people in the world. Drones aren’t evil, people are evil. We are a force of good and we are using those drones to carry out the policy of righteousness and goodness.”
Rep. King, depraved defender of drones and American exceptionalism

“If the civilian government in Islamabad would bite the bullet and make the political decision to open the ground lines of communication, that would deflect some of the negativity right now.”
An unnamed senior US government official, encouraging Pakistan to re-open supply routes to NATO forces in Afghanistan in order to ease tensions with the US [They can’t bite the bullet if you’re forcing it down their throats.]

"The question is how many more have to die at the hands of this bloody dictator [in Syria] before we intervene. I think you have to arm the opposition. They are desperate for arms."
John McCain, as bloodthirsty as ever

"To impose arbitrary and automatic cuts to our warfighters, who are putting their lives on the line for our country, would be morally unconscionable and would break faith with them and their families."
From a letter from the Republican heads of the House Defense, Intelligence and Foreign Affairs committees, objecting to any budget cuts affecting their uniformed terrorists

“People say that ‘you’re selling your soul.’ No, I’m supporting the party that I belong to, in order to try to work within the party to get things I believe in.”
Rand Paul, explaining why he chose party over principle

"We can't yet say precisely how bad the damage would be, but it is clear that sequestration would risk hollowing out our force and reducing its military options available to the nation. We would go from being unquestionably powerful everywhere to being less visibly globally and presenting less of an overmatch to our adversaries, and that would translate into a different deterrent calculus and potentially, therefore, increase the likelihood of conflict."
Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, attempting to predict that scheduled Pentagon budget cuts could lead to war. [So the only way to “defend” yourself is to occupy and rule the entire world?]

“If the impact of climate change is going to make regions of violence poorer, then they really provide a level of fertility for inciting disaffection, resentment against the prosperous world. That’s an indirect effect that can create the conditions for terrorism."
Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the UN’s Intergovernmental panel on Climate Change, blaming a change in the weather for terrorism

"Decades of right-wing and libertarian propaganda against Social Security have hardened the hearts of political elites, media, and even it sometimes seems of AARP against the elderly, who are portrayed as an expensive burden."
Paul Craig Roberts [No, it’s not the elderly who are the “burden“, it is unrepentant statists like Mr. Roberts who just can’t drop their defense of inter-generational thievery.]

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