The [U.S.] Constitution is a limitation on the government, not on private individuals … It does not prescribe the conduct of private individuals, only the conduct of the government … It is not a charter for government power, but a charter of the citizen’s protection against the government.
Tag: Ayn Rand
(1905 – 1982) Russian-American novelist, philosopher, playwright, and screenwriter.
How to know your society is doomed
When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion — when you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing — when you see money flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors — when you see that men get richer by graft and pull than by work, and your laws don’t protect you against them, but protect them against you — when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice — you may know that your society is doomed.
Government is a threat
A government is the most dangerous threat to man’s rights: it holds a legal monopoly on the use of physical force against legally disarmed victims.
Destroying capitalism
One of the methods used by statists to destroy capitalism consists in establishing controls that tie a given industry hand and foot, making it unable to solve its problems, then declaring that freedom has failed and stronger controls are necessary.