QOTD: “The aim of every political constitution is, or ought to be, first to obtain for rulers men who possess most wisdom to discern, and most virtue to pursue, the common good of the society.” - James Madison
Key assumption: some people, in fact, know more & better than others.
Conversation
Replying to
Chaser: Milton Friedman: “I do not believe that the solution to our problem is simply to elect the right people. The important thing is to establish a political climate of opinion which will make it politically profitable for the wrong people to do the right thing…”
“…Unless it is politically profitable for the wrong people to do the right thing, the right people will not do the right thing either, or if they try, they will shortly be out of office.”
1
Replying to
To be fair to Madison, the rest of the sentence I quoted was, “…and in the next place, to take the most effectual precautions for keeping them virtuous whilst they continue to hold their public trust.”
1
2
Show replies

