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.
Interpretation
This quote implies that the incompetence of one individual should not determine the freedom of all.
Harry Browne's quote reflects a philosophical stance on the nature of freedom and governance. It suggests that the overreach of government often stems from a belief that the incompetence or inability of a single person to use their freedom responsibly justifies restrictions on the freedoms of everyone. This highlights a fundamental tension between individual liberties and the role of authority in society.
In practice
In a debate about government policies that limit personal freedoms, this quote can illustrate the potential dangers of assuming all individuals are not capable of making responsible decisions.
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.
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.
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.
If it is not tempered by compassion, and empathy, reason can lead men and women into a moral void.
Painful memories didn't just ease back in-they shoved the door open hard, all of them and all at once
It is easy for us to criticize the prejudices of our grandfathers, from which our fathers freed themselves. It is more difficult to distance ourselves from our own views, so that we can dispassionately search for prejudices among the beliefs and values we hold
And from true lordship it follows that the true God is living, intelligent, and powerful; from the other perfections, that he is supreme, or supremely perfect. He is eternal and infinite, omnipotent and omniscient; that is, he endures from eternity to eternity; and he is present from infinity to infinity; he rules all things, and he knows all things that happen or can happen.
In religion all words are dirty words. Anybody who gets eloquent about Buddha, or God, or Christ, ought to have his mouth washed out with carbolic soap.
Woe to him who doesn't know how to wear his mask, be he king or pope!
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