Quote

Today's citizen is obliged to find his freedom only in the narrow ruts pre-approved by his bureaucratic overlords. Risk-free liberty is the ideal of the Welfare State: citizens are permitted only liberties which have been declawed, defanged, neutered, certified and wrapped in benevolent restrictions.

James Bovard

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James Bovard
Age: 68
Born: 1956
Born: July 22
Author
Journalist
Writer
Ames
Iowa
States
Welfare
Restriction
Overlords
Today
Ideals
Permitted
Neutered
Find
Citizens
Wrapped
Certified
Risk
Liberties
Bureaucratic
Liberty
Obliged
Ruts
State
Narrow
Restrictions
Freedom
Citizen
Benevolent
Free
Ideal
Approved

More quotes by James Bovard

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It is amazing to think after all that has happened in this country in the last few years, the last few decades, that so many people have this blind faith that government is our friend and therefore, we don’t need protections against it.
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As we learned from the Clinton administration and much of the media, a machine gun in the hands of a federal agent is now a symbol of benevolence and concern for a child's well-being.
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Politicians as a class are dangerous, that people who are seeking power over us are not, by definition, our friends.
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Once freedom is equated with a certain material standard of living, confiscation becomes the path to liberation.
James Bovard
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The Federal Government is exploiting public fear to redefine the relationship between the rulers and the American people.
James Bovard
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Freedom is whatever the president says it is, pending revision.
James Bovard
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There is no virtue in denying the law of gravity, and there should be no virtue in denying the limitations of government. ... The more we glorify government, the more liberties we will lose.
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Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner.
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Politicians nowadays treat Americans like medical orderlies treat Alzheimer's patients, telling them anything that will keep them subdued. It doesn't matter what untruths the people are fed because they will not long remember. But in politics, forgotten falsehoods almost guarantee new treachery.
James Bovard
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The first step in saving our liberty is to realize how much we have already lost, how we lost it, and how we will continue to lose it unless fundamental political changes occur.
James Bovard
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It is one of the great tragedies of the US, that most learn most of what they know about the government from the government.
James Bovard
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The key question for many voters is: How much is the candidate offering for my vote?
James Bovard
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Foreign aid breeds kleptocracies, or governments of thieves.
James Bovard
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Government aid programs have been endlessly expanded, and the government has sought to maximize the number of people willing to accept handouts..... Roughly half of all Americans are dependent on the government, either for handouts, pensions, or paychecks.
James Bovard
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American democracy is capsizing as a result of the vast increase in the number of government dependents and government employees.
James Bovard
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There has been so much power concentrated. There is no leash on that power anymore and Americans face the situation that this power is getting momentum with each passing year with each presidency.
James Bovard
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Some of the folks on both sides might be sincere, but it does seem as if it is only the opposition that cares about the Bill of Rights most of the time.
James Bovard
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The more government dependents, the more likely that democracy will become a conspiracy against self-reliance.
James Bovard
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Governments and citizens blend together only in the imaginations of political theorists. Government is, and always will be, an alien power over private citizens. There is no magic in a ballot box that makes government any less coercive.
James Bovard
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How many McDonald's gift certificates would it take to sway a lot of Americans to pledge to never publicly criticize the U.S, President?
James Bovard