Is it not absolutely amazing that commentators on this site bewail the low level of achieviement of our children students. Actually wish to see "public education" or government education eliminated. Ostensibly so that the children can be better educated elsewhere, ostensibly so that they can be better scholars, intellectuals and experts in their chosen fields and go on to great things. Now what are these great things to be if after they become experts, intellecutals and scholars we sneer at them, disparage them and tell them to cast their knowledge aside. Those who now sneer at the earth scientists who speak of global warming, those who sneer at the economists etcetera. So what is the purpose of education if we are just going to sneer at it once it is achieved. Again I think sneering at these accoplished and knowledgeable people is a sign of lack of knowledge, and ignorance on those who are sneering.

Mike read what you wrote that Jefferson said. Congress can lay taxes, the Indian Fighter said that Congress cannot lay taxes. Which is it my friend.

Logan knows nothing of stupidity. He is naive enough to accept Rush's old saw "the US is a republic not a democracy". Can't get any stupider than that!

Anon the product owner will sell his intrinsic value property for money and then pay his worker, I assume some employers may be willing to give the worker the intrinsic property rather than currency if the employ so wishes and he may then do what he wishes to with it. Most people prefer "money", paper and coin, for the sole reason that it is "currency" in other words it is "current" like now, immediate, useful, tradeable etc. If the product is for example kitchen cabinets what would the worker due with them while his family and landlord are waiting to eat and get their rent. Can you just image the worker truckig his share of cabinets all over town.

The secret to good government and self-government. The other day we were attacking intellectuals but just as we seek better performance from our schools and students to be A students we should seek to be educated, trained and knowledgable about our government, and thus we should all seek to be intellectuals, experts and watchdogs.

When you see others as "know it alls" or experts consider whether or not the issue is that are you just a "know nothing"!

Try to fix a car or a computer and tell me we do not need experts. And the desire for simplicity in this complex world is understandable. The uneducated, the inexperienced often think that the better educated or the experts are snobs etcetera. We need a respect for education and thinkers, the current President as have past Presidents encourage and promote education and expertise. Let us continue this in all endeavors including the passing of legislation. Simpletons and the uneducated as Hitler was will just destroy all in the name of his or her dictated idea of what is right and what is Unity. Such a UNITY of thought as such as Mike and Logan would preach to us should send a chill down our spines. Hoffer did not use the word despot. A despot can be educated or uneducated, intelletual or non intellectual. Hitler was a gutter politician and uneducated as far as college and university learning goes (that is not to say that he was not intelligent) and he burned the books and killed the intellectuals. Most intellecuals and most educated people realize how little it is that they know and are a little more circumspect about their views and opinons and give the other guy a little bit of respect and space. Those who look down on education, intellect, and expertise should be watched closely very closely.

The robber barons of the Gilded Age prospered as did Al Capone, drug lords etcetera. Carnegie prospered by virtually enslaving Italian immigransts in Pittsburgh, recently many prospered from the use of illegal labor. Therefore Bastiat as usual is a little shallow here. I will give him a three for poetry but withhold two due to his shallowness.

Yeah Blue you have woke up, I made a slip of the finger because I was so mad at you guys total innanity.

A free society is great for the intellectual, that is why Hitler, Pol Pot and Stalin tried to instigate a controlled now free society and you guys go along with it. Intellectual freedom is the best of a free society and you guys are against it, go figure!

That government including the Feds have no rigbht to raise funds via taxation is utterly false. They have done it since the inception of the Republic. Crockett is full of crap and so are you guys,.

I've often thought Bastiat was a flake and this quote definitely proves it. Either he is a flake or this is way out of context or ill translated. I mean you all think wages or profits, arms length transactions between two or more individuals is "legal plunder" and "socialism". Are you guys asleep at the wheel today and stuck on the 5 star button. C'mon wake up y'all!

Are we sure this was not written by Pol Pot? Sure sounds like Pol Pot, the Communists, or Nazi's. BURN ALL THE BOOKS, KILL THE INTELLECTUALS, DESTROY THE MACHINES and let the workmen do real work digging ditches by hand etcetera. Lets stop this nonsense of thinking, and innovation! I can't believe you five starers can really fall for this crap!

What utter nonsense. No wonder he never amounted to much as a politician. He never read Jefferson or the others obviously. Jim charitable deductions have been limited for a long time, check on the rules. For wealthy givers they can only deduct like 1/2 of their income. They can carryover the other 1/2 deduction to a future year. What community, village, city, county, state, or nation could operate without taxes, never has, never will. And our Constitution does not say that its government cannot raise funds from the public.

I guess I meant elusive, Mike. The economic system is a tool to serve mankind not the other way around.

the dictionary definition my dear Mike.

This guy from Memphis also thinks America is a "republic not a democracy" and of course therefore he will also never understand the nuances of Fenimore's quote above. Anyone of his ilk and ignorance has no right to talk of education to anyone.

I am glad he never became President but I do believe he may have been on the right track towards that ephermal quality that is truly sacred.

The economic system be it capitalism, feudalism, or communism is not sacred. There is something more sacred than property rights, profits, etcetera if only we could put our finger on what it is.

Art, culture and creat ivity have a societal base as well as individuality expressed within those societies. The Renaissance would not have occureed without its rich patrons and the structure of its' society. You may argue that "society" is not "government" but it is a form of governance. In some societies they had strict rules set by the church or the government defining what art and culture is. Thus the Greeks had a mathematical calculation for the dimensions of a ladies leg from the ankle, to the calf and all the way up to the lovely thigh. Ken proves my point. The city states were not decentralized. You guys are just anti-Fed and anti-Washington and you will twist every word out of your mouths to maintain that poisiton.

Friedman has been debunked. He is nothing more than a political hack, not a decent economist at all. He is nothing more than an apologist for Reaganism and that other indecent guy Laffer. Like Cheney and that entire Republican mob that has run our economy into the ground and our government into debt for twenty of the last 28 years they are like Laffer's name laughable. See my analysis of Friedman at his last quote several days ago. Why in the world does liberty-tree quote someone like Friedman anyway?

"Rich" people truly get their money only from the "poor". I think Mike is patently wrong. Most people still decide on a daily basis whether to buy this or that, now some majority and different majorities in different locales may make decisions that effect my ability to get every thing I want, but of course I can always go on the internet and have it shipped to me. I think of course of trying to buy grits in New York or Norwalk. But still the individual decision to buy this or that ultimiately controls the market and production.

Interesting but a little bit or a lot over the top. Of course mankind has existed for 100's of thousands of years before what is know or defined now as capitalism ever existed. Capitalism is generally defined as the system that came out of and supplanted European feudalism. Obviously economic systems existed that supplied the needs and provided for beautiful cultures and societies before capitalism. I like your post Carlton.

Here I am only confining myself to the quote. To believe that art and architecture and culture exists in some vaccuum outside of society and its government is well to be just a little bit insane I think.

Frank has got it right. Just look at Athens, Rome, the Renaissance, Mayan, Aztec, and Inca culture to understand the role of society and its government in these fields of endeavor. The more you read of Friedman the more of a flake he appears to be. Like many on this site he is anti-government first, sharp and analytical second, thus his views are most often warped and wrong.