If only. Maybe then it would perhaps work somehow. No, it's not a creation of banks, is creation of a poor and probably drunk fellow named Karl Marx. Taking his time and situation, its possible to see why he wrote such a nonsense back then. But no, not a creation of the Illuminati.  Tone down your conspiracies.

Feels like any Brazilian politician...

Interesting idea. Maybe I'll do it someday.
Not sure if you enjoyed Orwell's quote or not. You see, he would have agreed with you, right?

You clearly didn't understand anything about the quote. Maybe you should read the book. Orwell is talking about the lack of freedom, especially freedom of thought, in a totalitarian government of his dystopia. Please, read again, try to use that brain of yours and not try to relate everything to your personal history.

So interesting that his word seems to refer to a social network that would still take decades to arise. With Zuckerberg and other Silicon Valley "big minds" riding (and leading) the train of political correctness, this exact word could come to exist in our universe, meaning exactly (or nearly) the same thing...

No. If there's a power that you only have through a collective, then what you're calling "power" is actually just brute force hidden (sometimes) by bureaucracy (or the threat of force).
If a individual have no power to live his life in the way he wants in a certain society, then its because others are already imposing themselves over him, by use of force, coercion, or threat.

And that's reason to downvote it?

You didn't understood it and still rated it badly?

Amazing to see such a great stoic name and quote here. Paradoxically, is a quote about not quoting people anymore...

Amazing how much far from the actual quote your coment is. Sowel is not assuming one should not help the ones that are starting in a bad position.

Yes, but also it goes deeper. You see, the liberal base certainly thinks like that. But the leaders, at least some of those know that the debate is far more complex, but they actively choose to label others in a simplistic way. Its called "controlling the framing", and its disgusting and disruptive.

I think most people approving the quote (great quote, obviously) aren't really getting the deeper meaning. It might not only be about the fall of democracy or the rise of tyrants.

Regardless of "right" or "left", this here is often ignored: "Their differences were minor compared to their similarities." This is important. Should be shameful for those defending socialism.

Really interesting how those commenting against the quote seem to completely misunderstand the point Rex made, or the points others have mentioned, or even the nature and exact proposal of minimum wage laws. They respond as if the subject were other, as if the question was about themselves, or other specific individuals, or other particular needs.

Very interesting. We can only be real social animals if we allow others to NOT be social if they so desire. The freedom to not be tied to others, allowing each individual to choose if wanting or not to associate. Loved this quote.

Einstein being a pacifist, he probably would agree with me.

I really really prefer to not pay armed forces at all, actually. Specially if me and my neighbours were to be finally "re-allowed" to own our own defenses.

Great quote, great author, great books!
Amem to that.

Once we were, for well tested eons, so surely we can be again.

I think he caught it somewhat backwards. Surplus of food (actually, surplus of carbohydrates with too few protein and vitamins, but this other topic) is what causes surplus of humans. Since the dawn of time. Early societies everywhere quickly realized that, and seeing how increasing numbers could quickly creat havoc in their lifestyles, created mechanisms to hold their numbers down, from communities splits, to abortion, to infanticide, etc. It took a long while until a few groups decided to let the numbers go loose, and considered human lives as "the ultimate good" or something like that. From that, a few thousand years and we're in our current mess.

(just gonna copy what I said in another quote today)
Even here, we have some of those "brillants" deffending a world "order"? Please, sign me off from this ride. No thanks, I rather have my politicians as close as possible so I can scream/slap/hang/guillotine them whenever they become evil. The bigger the government, the smaller the citizen. Or else, the bigger the gov, the farther its rulers are from its citizens. A global govern would never be peaceful or of great prosperity, no. It would become quickly and awful dictatorship, one very hard to fight against, but nevertheless people will fight it daily. The in-fights within the gov and its members would soon replace our wars too, and not to any improvement. Corruption and stifle of free speech would be daily routines.
Bill is right, in a sick way, however, by saying that the nation states are overdue. The well of progress wants to keep churning and needs to eat those up next, since now our tech no longer needs them. But this is not a good thing. This future we march to is not to be desired, but to be fought. We still have other options.
And by the way, we could get rid yes of nation-states, but I prefer to replace them for regional states then a global one.

Even here, we have some of those "brillants" deffending a world "order"? Please, sign me off from this ride. No thanks, I rather have my politicians as close as possible so I can scream/slap/hang/guillotine them whenever they become evil. The bigger the government, the smaller the citizen. Or else, the bigger the gov, the farther its rulers are from its citizens. A global govern would never be peaceful or of great prosperity, no. It would become quickly and awful dictatorship, one very hard to fight against, but nevertheless people will fight it daily. The in-fights within the gov and its members would soon replace our wars too, and not to any improvement. Corruption and stifle of free speech would be daily routines.
Bill is right, in a sick way, however, by saying that the nation states are overdue. The well of progress wants to keep churning and needs to eat those up next, since now our tech no longer needs them. But this is not a good thing. This future we march to is not to be desired, but to be fought. We still have other options.
And by the way, we could get rid yes of nation-states, but I prefer to replace them for regional states then a global one.

What are those CFRs?

As a teacher, trying to teach Sciences in public schools in São Paulo, I can wholesomely confirm this quote. Such laws are so much detrimental to the idea of teaching, that abhors me that teachers are not rioting to get these laws down. On contrary, we just see public teachers rioting when it comes to their pay-checks health (payment that, if were being honest, WE DO NOT DESERVE, since we aren't teaching anyone anything for a long time now... Cal's comment is on point here).
Now, get these compulsory attendance laws and mix them with compulsory APPROVAL laws. Yes, you heard me right, compulsory approval. Those laws are in and out here, but in practice we cannot hold back any student who failed the year. The results to this, combined with compulsory attendance, you all can imagine. A whole generation, all the attending years in our school systems, consistently ignoring teachers and their learning processes. "Students" who can't barely read, who don't care if they will ever learn to read or to put 2 + 2 together, creating all kinds of havoc in our classrooms. No wonder Brazil is now figuring as the only country where mean IQ has dropped in the recent decades. Where really messing shit up.

"I heartily accept the motto, — “That government is best which governs least”; and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which I also believe, — “That government is best which governs not at all”; and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have. Government is at best but an expedient; but most governments are usually, and all governments are sometimes, inexpedient."
Henry David Thoreau.