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Life in general has never been even close to fair, so the pretense that the government can make it fair is a valuable and inexhaustible asset to politicians who want to expand government.
Thomas Sowell
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Interpretation

What this quote means

The notion of fairness in life is an illusion, often exploited by politicians to justify expanding their power.

In this quote, Thomas Sowell expresses the idea that life is inherently unfair, and the belief that government can rectify this unfairness is a misconception. Politicians may use this pretense of creating fairness to gain support and expand their authority, highlighting the complexities of governance and societal expectations.

Themes

FairnessGovernmentPoliticsLifePower

In practice

Example use cases

During a political debate, one might use this quote to argue against government intervention in economic issues.

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The real problem, both in discussions of mass shootings and in discussions of gun control, is that too many people are too committed to a vision to allow mere facts to interfere with their beliefs, and the sense of superiority that those beliefs give them.
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Why is history important? Without history, many people have no idea how many of today's half-baked ideas have been tried, again and again - and have repeatedly led to disaster. Most of these ideas are not new. They are just being recycled with re-treaded rhetoric.
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