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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
Program
Mafia
Front
Offices
Office
Agencies
Simply
Coercion
Courses
Flags
Course
Precise
Political
Agency
Government
Fronts

More quotes by Harry Browne

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Get your money out of the country before your country gets your money out of you
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Each person is living for himself his own happiness is all he can ever personally feel.
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In almost all matters, the real question should be: why are we letting government handle this?
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You owe it to yourself to be the best person possible. Because if you are, others will want to be with you, want to provide you with the things you want in exchange for what you're giving to them.
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Being a politician means never having to say you're sorry. You don't have to say, 'I never should have voted to subsidize that ridiculous Enron project in India.' ... After all, they're greedy businessmen and you're a selfless public servant.
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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.
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Our government, taxes, and ideas of freedom are already duplicates of the Old World. Our politicians determine how we should live our lives - and our individual liberties are sacrificed for the benefit of the Fatherland.
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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.
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The important thing is to concentrate upon what you can do - by yourself, upon your own initiative.
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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.
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Give politicians power and it certainly will be abused eventually - if not by today's politicians, then by their successors.
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Republicans campaign like Libertarians and govern like Democrats.
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When people do things for you, it's because they want to - because you, in some way, give them something meaningful that makes them want to please you, not because anyone owes you anything.
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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.
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It isn't possible to give government just a little control over the economy and our lives. Once we cede that power to government, it uses the power to take more from us. That's why every year the government controls more of our lives.
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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.
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For those looking for security, be forewarned that there's nothing more insecure than a political promise.
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The power of choice. You have it. But you forfeit it when you imagine that you can choose for others. You can't. But you can choose for yourself.
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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.
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The Bill of Rights isn't some legalistic fine print. It was written to make our lives freer, more prosperous, and happier. By forsaking it, America has become no better than any other country in the world.
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