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So what is government?... Very simply, it is an agency of coercion. Of course, there are other agencies of coercion - such as the Mafia. So to be more precise, government is the agency of coercion that has flags in front of its offices.

Harry Browne

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Harry Browne
Age: 72 †
Born: 1933
Born: June 17
Died: 2006
Died: March 1
Financial Analyst
Peace Activist
Politician
Radio Personality
Writer
New York City
New York
Harry Edson Browne
Office
Agencies
Simply
Coercion
Courses
Flags
Course
Precise
Political
Agency
Government
Fronts
Program
Mafia
Front
Offices

More quotes by Harry Browne

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In the 1880s, people all over the world looked to America for inspiration. Its very existence was proof that it was possible to have a relatively free and peaceful country. No income tax, no foreign wars, no welfare state, no intrusions on civil liberties.
Harry Browne
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While most people in TV, radio, and the press have treated me wonderfully, some of the most important people want to pretend I don't exist.
Harry Browne
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I'm sorry that I can't snap my fingers and undo 50 years of bad American foreign policy.
Harry Browne
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If younger people see older people who haven't planned ahead and have to rely on charity, the young will be more likely to provide for the future. Today when someone plans poorly, the only consequence people see is a demand for more government.
Harry Browne
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Give government the weapons to fight your enemy and it will use them against you.
Harry Browne
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Left-wing politicians take away your liberty in the name of children and of fighting poverty, while right-wing politicians do it in the name of family values and fighting drugs. Either way, government gets bigger and you become less free.
Harry Browne
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For most of our history, Americans enjoyed both liberty and security from foreign threats.
Harry Browne
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When you know that you're capable of dealing with whatever comes, you have the only security the world has to offer.
Harry Browne
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I have no temptation to vote, to campaign, to try and stop a candidate who promises new follies.
Harry Browne
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If a law could keep dangerous weapons out of the hands of dangerous people, there would be virtually no gun crime at all.
Harry Browne
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A Libertarian society of unfettered individualism spreads its benefits to virtually everyone - not just those who have the resources to seize political power.
Harry Browne
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World War II has always been of great interest to me. I've known for decades that it was just one more war the politicians suckered us into.
Harry Browne
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Get your money out of the country before your country gets your money out of you
Harry Browne
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Give politicians power and it certainly will be abused eventually - if not by today's politicians, then by their successors.
Harry Browne
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I found that I was getting a warm reception for my message of freeing you from the income tax, releasing you from Social Security, ending the insane war on drugs, restoring gun rights, and reducing the federal government to just its constitutional functions.
Harry Browne
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Social Security is inherently unsound for the simple reason that it's a political program run by politicians for political purposes...Social Security operates on a very simple principle: the politicians take your money from you and squander it.
Harry Browne
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I am running for President because it is obvious that no Democrat or Republican is ever going to stop the relentless growth of the federal government. Only a Libertarian will free you from the income tax.
Harry Browne
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We may not always recognize it, but government plays a bigger role in our lives than any other single person or institution. We spend nearly half of our lives working to pay for it. Children spend more time in government schools than they do with their parents. Birth, death, marriage, every area of our lives feels the influence of government.
Harry Browne
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Communities don't think, don't believe, don't want, don't have needs, don't have interests and don't make decisions. Only individuals have minds that generate desires and needs - and only individuals can make choices and decisions.
Harry Browne
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Forcing people to be generous isn't humanitarian, effective, compassionate or moral. Only acts that are truly voluntary for all concerned can be truly compassionate.
Harry Browne