"There is no technological magic bullet that will make the government as smart as it is powerful."

James Bovard Literature See all quotes by James Bovard →

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“The worse government fails, the less privacy citizens supposedly deserve.”

“Trusting government nowadays means dividing humanity into two classes: those who can be trusted with power to run other people’s lives, and those who cannot even be trusted to run their own lives.”

“A lie that is accepted by a sufficient number of ignorant voters becomes a political truth.”

“People have been taught to expect far more from government than from freedom.”

“We need a constitutional amendment to make the federal government obey the Constitution.”

“The Patriot Act treats every citizen like a suspected terrorist and every federal agent like a proven angel.”

Resonant Thoughts

"In 1945, the war ended and I was chosen to be the first director of the newly-established Department of Applied Economics in Cambridge. Between leaving the government service and taking up my new post…"

— Richard Stone

Medicine1951

#time

"We have only one global hegemonic power. It is not accumulating territory: it is trying to accumulate influence and control."

— Rowan Williams

Religion1950

#power

"Call me an extremist but killing a few hundred million people seems like the sort of method that might have unintended consequences."

— James Nicoll

Literature

#power

"I asked at another address to think for themselves, and find out for themselves, how to get over their difficulties. The difficulties are always there-they will always be there, and I am glad that the…"

— Bidhan Chandra Roy

Politics1882–1962

#mind