Jefferson read Ayn Rand before she was even born.

Posted by TylerNewsome 11 years, 5 months ago to Government
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I was studying some Thomas Jefferson writings and came across this:

"I think myself that we have more machinery of government than is necessary, too many parasites living on the labor of the industrious."

He must have gotten these words from John Galt himself, right? I see so many evidences of what I would almost call warnings from our historic peoples. Are there any famous names that you can easily identify from history(colonial period) who were truly against individualism and/or promoted big government.


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  • Posted by khalling 11 years, 5 months ago
    "For no people will tamely surrender their Liberties, nor can any be easily subdued, when knowledge is diffusd and Virtue is preservd. On the Contrary, when People are universally ignorant, and debauchd in their Manners, they will sink under their own weight without the Aid of foreign Invaders." Samuel Adams
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  • Posted by khalling 11 years, 5 months ago
    John Locke:
    "Whenever the legislators endeavour to take away and destroy the property of the people, or to reduce them to slavery under arbitrary power, they put themselves into a state of war with the people."
    Francis Bacon: (on reason and primacy of existence)
    "Nature, to be commanded, must be obeyed."
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  • Posted by overmanwarrior 11 years, 5 months ago
    What they all have in common is a love of reason. Any "reasonable" conclusions based on reality bring the mind to such statments. That's what Ayn Rand was trying to say all along. "A is A."
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  • Posted by $ erudeen 11 years, 5 months ago
    "If we can but prevent the government from wasting the labours of the people, under the pretence of taking care of them, they must become happy." - Thomas Jefferson
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  • Posted by 11 years, 5 months ago
    These are great insights.

    Here is Patrick Henry speaking, "Did you ever read of any revolution in a nation, brought about by the punishment of those in power, inflicted by those who had no power at all?"
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  • Posted by $ erudeen 11 years, 5 months ago
    Alexander Hamilton seems to come to mind.

    "An admirer of British political systems, Hamilton was a nationalist who emphasized strong central government and successfully argued that the implied powers of the Constitution could be used to fund the national debt, assume state debts, and create the government-owned Bank of the United States."
    *Quoted from Wikipedia*
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