Quote of the Day II: Government is Not Compassion
Submitted by CARPE DIEM
The single most damaging error of the modern age is the misperception of government as an agency of compassion. As a replacement for the “divine right of kings,” this misperception has, for those in power, been an astonishing success. For the rest of mankind, it has frequently been a disaster beyond imagining.
Government is nothing more than structured, widespread coercion, and the idea that it can implement compassion for us by force is simply a vile and cunning lie. It is cunning because people are primed and willing, even desperate, to believe it. It is vile because government allows, facilitates, and encourages mass murder, widespread torture, needless famine, and every form of tyranny. No other tool than coercive government does this.
~Glen Allport (Thanks to an anonymous commenter.)
