To say 'I love you' one must first be able to say the 'I.'
Ayn RandRead
Lobbying' is the activity of attempting to influence legislation by privately influencing the legislators. It is the result and creation of a mixed economy-of government by pressure groups. Its methods range from mere social courtesies and cocktail-party or luncheon "friendships" to favors, threats, bribes, blackmail.
Interpretation
Lobbying is the practice of influencing legislation through personal connections and pressure tactics.
This quote by Ayn Rand highlights the complexities and ethical dilemmas surrounding lobbying in a mixed economy. It suggests that lobbying can involve a spectrum of behaviors, from innocuous social interactions to unscrupulous methods like bribery and blackmail, indicating a system where private interests can significantly sway public policy and government decisions.
In practice
Used in a political debate to discuss the ethics of lobbying.
To say 'I love you' one must first be able to say the 'I.'
The difference between animals and humans is that animals change themselves for the environment, but humans change the environment for themselves.
It is my eyes which see, and the sight of my eyes grants beauty to the earth. It is my ears which hear, and the hearing of my ears gives its song to the world. It is my mind which thinks, and the judgement of my mind is the only searchlight that can find the truth. It is my will which chooses, and the choice of my will is the only edict I must respect.
What is the basic, the essential, the crucial principle that differentiates freedom from slavery? It is the principle of voluntary action versus physical coercion or compulsion.
One method of destroying a concept is by diluting its meaning. Observe that by ascribing rights to the unborn, i.e., the nonliving, the anti-abortionists obliterate the rights of the living.
I think that when in doubt about the truth of an issue, it's safer and in better taste to select the least numerous of the adversaries.
If, for example, existing government intervention is minor, we shall attach a smaller weight to the negative effect of additional government intervention. This is an important reason why many earlier liberals, like Henry Simons, writing at a time when government was small by today's standards, were willing to have government undertake activities that today's liberals would not accept now that government has become so overgrown.
Remember, Republican economic policies quadrupled the debt before I took office and doubled it after I left. We simply can't afford to double-down on trickle-down.
History and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government.
I debated in high school! If you told things that weren't true or just made things out of whole cloth, you were penalized. It's too bad they don't apply the same standards to presidential candidates as they do to high school students.
If you look at satellite photographs of the Far East by night, you'll see a large splotch curiously lacking in light. This area of darkness is the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
There are few genuine conservatives within the U.S. political system, and it is a sign of the intellectual corruption of the age that the honorable term 'conservatism' can be appropriated to disguise the advocacy of a powerful, lawless, aggressive and violent state, a welfare state for the rich dedicated to a lunatic form of Keynesian economic intervention that enhances state and private power while mortgaging the country's future.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.