Treat All Economic Questions From The Viewpoint

Society Is Composed Of Men, And Every Man Is A Free Agent. Since Man Is Free, He Can Choose; Since He Can Choose, He Can Err; Since He Can Err, He Can Suffer. I Go Further: He Must Err And He Must Suffer; For His Starting Point Is Ignorance, And In His Ignorance He Sees Before Him An Infinite Number Of Unknown Roads, All Of Which Save One Lead To Error.

When Plunder Becomes A Way Of Life, Men Create For Themselves A Legal System That Authorizes It And A Moral Code That Glorifies It.

You Compare The Nation To A Parched Piece Of Land And The Tax To A Life-giving Rain. So Be It. But You Should Also Ask Yourself Where This Rain Comes From, And Whether It Is Not Precisely The Tax That Draws The Moisture From The Soil And Dries It Up. You Should Also Ask Yourself Further Whether The Soil Receives More Of This Precious Water From The Rain Than It Loses By The Evaporation?

It Is Not True That The Legislator Has Absolute Power Over Our Persons And Property, Since They Pre-exist, And His Work Is Only To Secure Them From Injury. It Is Not True That The Mission Of The Law Is To Regulate Our Consciences, Our Ideas, Our Will, Our Education, Our Sentiments, Our Works, Our Exchanges, Our Gifts, Our Enjoyments. Its Mission Is To Prevent The Rights Of One From Interfering With Those Of Another, In Any One Of These Things.

It Must Be Admitted That The Tendency Of The Human Race Toward Liberty Is Largely Thwarted, Especially In France. This Is Greatly Due To A Fatal Desire-learned From The Teachings Of Antiquity-that Our Writers On Public Affairs Have In Common: They Desire To Set Themselves Above Mankind In Order To Arrange, Organize, And Regulate It According To Their Fancy.