"I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against any form of tyranny over the minds and lives of men. To preserve our independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. We must take our choice between economy and liberty, or profusion and servitude. If we run into such debts, we must be taxed in our meat and drink, in our necessities and in our comforts, in our labors and in our amusements. If we can prevent the government from wasting the labor of the people under the pretense of caring for them, they [the people] will be happy."
-- Thomas Jefferson
4 comments:
YAY. I'm so glad the veil was lifted today. But you may not get me again tomorrow. I know I'm off beat. That's why I have the Moulin Rouge Disclaimer on the side.
I get YOU though because Laura's told me all sorts of good things about you, so there!
Your word verifier says shant. I hope that's not a bad omen. ;)
Oh, and I love Thomas Jefferson quotes. Nice pick.
wait, are you saying we need to be taxed out of our debt?
Erika,
I'm not saying we 'should' tax ourselves out of debt. The quote states that when we allow ourselves to acquire massive debt then in order to get out of it we tax...it's what I see in our near future, not something I agree with, but because of our inability to control the debt which in turn leads us to the loss of independence (refer to quote).
The final line states, "If we can prevent the government from wasting the labor of the people under the pretense of caring for them, they [the people] will be happy." Hence This lends to my desire for small government allowing us to decide what we do for ourselves rather than forcing us to labor for the government under the guise of taking care of everyone.
I sort of saw it as a Thomas Jefferson prediction that is still applicable over 200 years later.
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