American federalism was the embodiment of political tolerance and decentralization - the expression of the liberal conviction that society can manage itself and needs no central plan. Llewellyn Rockwell More Quotes by Llewellyn Rockwell More Quotes From Llewellyn Rockwell Capitalism, and capitalism alone, has rescued the human race from degrading poverty, rampant sickness and early death. Llewellyn Rockwell sickness poverty race The laws of economics tell us that the expansion of the central state can't go on forever. Its limit is reached when the looted turn on the looters. Llewellyn Rockwell freedom law forever It isn't a coincidence that governments everywhere want to educate children. Government education, in turn, is supposed to be evidence of the state's goodness and its concern for our well-being. The real explanation is less flattering. If the government's propaganda can take root as children grow up, those kids will be no threat to the state apparatus. They'll fasten the chains to their own ankles. H.L. Mencken once said that the state doesn't just want to make you obey. It tries to make you want to obey. And that's one thing the government schools do very well. Llewellyn Rockwell growing-up real children The most encouraging trend of our time is the widespread loss of faith in government. No longer do people look to the government as the great problem solver, economic planner, social unifier, or cultural czar. The government is more likely to be seen for what it is, a haven for grafters, liars, and would-be tyrants. Americans, like the Russians, no longer believe anything until it is officially denied. Llewellyn Rockwell loss liars believe Pledge allegiance to your principles, your family, your faith, but don't be foolish enough to pledge allegiance to a gang of thieves. Llewellyn Rockwell liberty political principles Never forget that no government has wealth of its own to spend. The money has to come from taxation, monetary inflation, or debt expansion that must be paid later. And government's spending choices will always be uneconomic relative to how society would use that wealth. That is to say, the money will be wasted. Llewellyn Rockwell expansion government choices Democracy has turned out to be not majority rule but rule by well-organized and well-connected minority groups who steal from the majority. Llewellyn Rockwell majority-rule democracies-have democracy There is nothing the state can do, and which society needs done, that cannot be done far better by the market. Llewellyn Rockwell states done needs Socialism crushes human rights, builds the state, impinges on the liberty of conscience, and breeds social, cultural, and economic degeneration. Llewellyn Rockwell crush liberty rights Now, it is sometimes said that medical care is too important to be left to the market, and that it is immoral to profit from the illnesses of others. I say medical care is too important to be left to the failed central plans of the political class. And as for profiting from providing medical care, we can never be reminded enough that in a free society, a profit is a signal that valuable services are being rendered to people on a voluntary basis. Llewellyn Rockwell political class people The danger to a free society is not the guns owned by the citizens but an unconstrained government.... An armed society is a self-governing society, just as a disarmed people are vulnerable to arbitrary power of every kind. Llewellyn Rockwell government gun self Even as the government dominates the headlines, private entrepreneurs are busy every day working to improve products and services that improve our lives. They do it without taxing us or regulating us, or making us suffer through tedious elections or political debates. They make their products and offer them to us in a way that pleases the consuming public the most. We can choose whether we want them or not. Llewellyn Rockwell entrepreneur political government The state always poses a greater threat to society than whatever problem it purports to solve. Llewellyn Rockwell threat states problem It's not as if socialism is a new idea. It was tried in the 20th century. It produced economic stagnation and despair. In its purest form, it extinguished more than one hundred million people. Llewellyn Rockwell despair people ideas Americans are coming to their senses, and the libertarian theory of society and government is pointing the way. The times change, but the enduring principles that help us to interpret and understand the world do not. It remains true now, as then, as in the future, saecula saeculorum, that government provides neither an effective nor a moral means for solving any human problem. Llewellyn Rockwell government mean world One ironic legacy of the Clinton administration is the rearming of the American citizenry. Each time Clinton and his friends in Congress threaten another round of anti-gun regulations, the American people respond by stocking up. Llewellyn Rockwell ironic gun people Socialized medicine must fail for the same reasons all socialism must fail: it offers no system for rationally allocating resources, and instead promotes the overutilization of all resources, ending in bankruptcy. Llewellyn Rockwell socialism medicine failing Libertarianism is a theory of politics that is so compelling that once you have absorbed it, it becomes the lens through which you end up understanding all economic and political events. Llewellyn Rockwell events political understanding All the stuff that makes life worth living is produced privately, and all that the government does is slow down the progress of civilization and bring destruction and disaster wherever it goes. Llewellyn Rockwell progress government civilization Without market prices for capital goods, accounting is not possible. You don't know if you are making money or losing money, saving resources or wasting them, doing the right thing or not doing the right thing. Llewellyn Rockwell making-money saving losing
