"Progressives have convinced people that they are fighting theft. If a greedy capitalist has looted your possessions, you would want the government to do something about it. An essential function of government is to bring thieves to justice and to restore stolen possessions to their rightful owners. If the progressive critique is valid, then it doesn't matter if government does it inefficiently, since there is no one else to do the job: inefficient justice is better than no justice. Moreover, when we ask the police to go after bad guys and repossess their stolen goods, we aren't concerned with whether we foster virtue among the "giver" and gratitude in the "receiver." That's because the giver isn't really giving; he's merely giving back, and the receiver has no cause for gratitude since he is merely being made whole. In this scenario, Americans who are sitting in the bandwagon have earned that right, and the people pulling are the thieves who deserve to be penalized and castigated. This is why I've devoted the bulk of this book to refuting the theft critique. If I've succeeded, then the whole progressive argument collapses and our federal government, far from being an instrument of justice, now becomes an instrument of plunder."
React to this quote
More by Dinesh D'Souza
See allResonant Thoughts
"America’s Christian conservative movement is confronted with this divide: small-government advocates who want to practice their faith independent of heavy-handed government versus big-government sympa…"
Explore Further
Related Quotes
"And then he remembered that the other function of sex is punishment – men use it to humiliate women. And si…"
— Alice Borchardt"We have taught the people of this country the value of a great principle. They have learned that there is n…"
— John Bright"I think basically the youth of today are just having so many problems and they are sort of confused...This …"
— Yolanda King"While clearly an impregnable masterpiece, Don Quixote suffers from one fairly serious flaw - that of outrig…"
— Martin Amis"Regarding the constant change of the world, visible to our coarse organs, as well as its dissolution, Buddh…"
— Helena Roerich"I'm telling you, they have their hands around the neck of the republic. They are much farther ahead, we're …"
— Glenn Beck