Conservatives say the government can't end poverty by force, but they believe it can use force to make people moral. Liberals say government can't make people be moral, but they believe it can end poverty. Neither group attempts to explain why government is so clumsy and destructive in one area but a paragon of efficiency and benevolence in the other.
Interpretation
The quote critiques the contradictory beliefs of conservatives and liberals regarding government intervention in morality and poverty.
Harry Browne's quote highlights the paradox in the ideologies of both conservatives and liberals. Conservatives assert that while the government cannot effectively eradicate poverty through coercive means, they accept the government's involvement in enforcing moral behavior. Conversely, liberals argue that while the government cannot compel morality, they believe in its ability to alleviate poverty. The quote questions why the government is viewed as ineffective and destructive in addressing poverty, yet seen as capable and benevolent in enforcing moral standards.
In practice
This quote can be used in a political debate to illustrate the inconsistencies in ideological beliefs.
Asset forfeiture is a mockery of the Bill of Rights. There is no presumption of innocence, no need to prove you guilty (or even charge you with a crime), no right to a jury trial, no right to confront your accuser, no right to a court-appointed attorney (even if the government has just stolen all your money), and no right to compensation for the property that's been taken.
Government seems to operate on the principle that if even one individual is incapable of using his freedom competently, no one can be allowed to be free.
No one ever died from smoking marijuana, but millions of people have died by believing politicians.
When you know that you're capable of dealing with whatever comes, you have the only security the world has to offer.
You can't give the government the power to do good without also giving it the power to do bad - in fact, to do anything it wants.
A great burden was lifted from my shoulders the day I realized that no one owes me anything.
We have to ensure politically that what's doable can indeed by translated into law, but what's not doable mustn't become European law. Otherwise, the auto industry will work somewhere with higher carbon emissions - and we can't want that.
REVOLUTION, n. In politics, an abrupt change in the form of misgovernment. . . . the substitution of the rule of an Administration for that of a Ministry, whereby the welfare and happiness of the people were advanced a full half-inch.
It was clear, for example, in 1988 that the political process had already become perilously remote from the electorate it was meant to represent.
No foreign policy - no matter how ingenious - has any chance of success if it is born in the minds of a few and carried in the hearts of none.
The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and all to lose - especially their lives.
Long Island is shaped the way it is largely because of Robert Moses. Long Island is a perfect example of how political power shapes people's lives every day.
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