On Feb 27, 1:30*pm, James Arthur wrote:

Everyone wants magic, wants it free, and don't bother us with the
details. *Government, in the business of pleasing people, is more than
happy to oblige...politicians of both parties *love* to spend money on
their constituents, no matter what the cause.

What the hell kind of country would this be if you could not steal
from your neighbors legally?

I especially like the last sentence:

"To the intellectual the social device of capitalism
offers a displeasing picture. Why? In his own terms,
here are self-seeking men in quest of personal aggran-
dizement. How? By providing consumers with things they
want or can be induced to want. The same intellectual,
puzzlingly, is not shocked by the workings of hedonist
democracy; here also self-seeking men accomplish their
aggrandizement by promising to other men things they
want or are induced to demand. The difference seems to
lie mainly in that the capitalist delivers the goods."
--Bertrand de Jouvenel,
_Treatment of Capitalism by Intellectuals_