"The proposal of any new law or regulation of commerce which comes from this order, ought always to be listened to with great precaution, and ought never to be adopted till after having been long and carefully examined, not only with the most scrupulous, but with the most suspicious attention. It comes from an order of men, whose interest is never exactly the same with that of the public, who have generally an interest to deceive and even to oppress the public, and who accordingly have, upon many occasions, both deceived and oppressed it." - pages 142-143, Adam Smith, PDF version of "Wealth of Nations" transcribed by the Gutenberg Project. You can download a text copy from http://www.gutenberg.org/files/3300.
Who are this "order of men”? Those who live by profit.
Who has Donald Trump appointed to be in his administration? Billionaires who have lived by profit many times over. Is this a populist government? Do pigs fly?
Given my small readership, I doubt you can make much influence. But who knows how much influence you might have by passing this on to your Senators and Representatives?
The above quote originally appeared in “The Invisible Adam Smith”, 2012-10-25 Only 146 have viewed this page to date. I feel like I’m just blowing in the wind. But, Bob Dylan wrote, “The answer is blowin’ in the wind, my friend.”
Showing posts with label deceive. Show all posts
Showing posts with label deceive. Show all posts
Friday, December 23, 2016
Sunday, August 18, 2013
Jefferson, Smith, and Large Corporations
Although Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence was written as a complaint against the King of England it really was a complaint about royal and parliamentary support of abusive crown-chartered private corporations.
Similarly, in the same year Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations warned of the corporate control of government and corporate abusiveness towards the British public.
Now we have Paul Krugman warning of the control of government by Delaware-chartered corporations and their abusiveness towards the American public.
And many of these corporations wrap themselves in the flag and Adam Smith!!!
To paraphrase "Where have all the flowers gone?" when will we ever learn?
Similarly, in the same year Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations warned of the corporate control of government and corporate abusiveness towards the British public.
Now we have Paul Krugman warning of the control of government by Delaware-chartered corporations and their abusiveness towards the American public.
And many of these corporations wrap themselves in the flag and Adam Smith!!!
To paraphrase "Where have all the flowers gone?" when will we ever learn?
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