Maggie's Farm

We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.

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Psychology Experiments' Questionable Results

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Wednesday, January 23. 2008

QQQ

Virtue is more to be feared than vice, because its excesses are not subject to the regulation of conscience.

Adam Smith (that quote, I feel, contains a deep truth, and one reason why we trust those motivated by money over those motivated by gaining power over others)

Posted by Bird Dog in Quotidian Quotable Quote (QQQ) at 06:06 | Comments (2) | Trackbacks (0)

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'Reminds me of C.S. Lewis:

"Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."

http://sisu.typepad.com/sisu/2006/10/post.html
#1 Sissy Willis (Link) on 2008-01-23 08:17 (Reply)
Similar to the quote I have on cut-and-paste and now don't need to use, Sissy. (But I will anyway.)

"I am a democrat because I believe that no man or group of men is good enough to be trusted with uncontrolled power over others. And the higher the pretensions of such power, the more dangerous I think it both to rulers and to the subjects. Hence Theocracy is the worst of all governments. If we must have a tyrant a robber barron is far better than an inquisitor. The baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity at some point may be sated; and since he dimly knows he is doing wrong he may possibly repent. But the inquisitor who mistakes his own cruelty and lust of power and fear for the voice of Heaven will torment us infinitely more because he torments us with the approval of his own conscience and his better impulses appear to him as temptations." CS Lewis
#2 Assistant Village Idiot (Link) on 2008-01-23 11:18 (Reply)

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