Quote

Throughout history, politicians have used other people's property to buy themselves power. That is the primary achievement of the welfare state.

James Bovard

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

James Bovard
Age: 68
Born: 1956
Born: July 22
Author
Journalist
Writer
Ames
Iowa
State
Primaries
History
Primary
Power
Politicians
Used
Throughout
States
Welfare
People
Achievement
Property
Politician

More quotes by James Bovard

Image
The more people expect from government, the more biased they become against limiting government power.
James Bovard
Image
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
Image
It has been surprising to me that so few conservatives have voiced concern over the precedence that are being set in favor of suppression by this so-called conservative administration.
James Bovard
Image
Politicians as a class are dangerous, that people who are seeking power over us are not, by definition, our friends.
James Bovard
Image
If an election is simply a one-day snapshot of transient mass delusions, then this is not a very noble form of government.
James Bovard
Image
Not only has the number of government employees multiplied in recent decades, but the rise of government unions further stacks the political odds against private citizens.
James Bovard
Image
Once freedom is equated with a certain material standard of living, confiscation becomes the path to liberation.
James Bovard
Image
Freedom is whatever the president says it is, pending revision.
James Bovard
Image
We are asking the wrong question. The issue is not who should be trusted with all the power of the Presidency. Instead, we must ask how much power any candidate can be trusted with.
James Bovard
Image
The Federal Government is exploiting public fear to redefine the relationship between the rulers and the American people.
James Bovard
Image
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
Image
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.
James Bovard
Image
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
Image
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
Image
The only things government can do are regulate and redistribute, prohibit and penalize, confiscate and command. Are these the things that liberty is made of? Somebody else's money and an endless list of Thou Shalt Nots?
James Bovard
Image
It is important to recognize and politics positive thinking is often the slaves' virtue - something that people do to con themselves about the burden and change being placed upon them.
James Bovard
Image
The key question for many voters is: How much is the candidate offering for my vote?
James Bovard
Image
Well, one of the first things is to restore the rule of law, to place the government back under the cage of law. Another thing is to stop falling for the myth of democracy.
James Bovard
Image
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
Image
Foreign aid breeds kleptocracies, or governments of thieves.
James Bovard