Every so often, a few short sentences from long ago are able to capture the utter and complete simplicity involved with what at first may appear to be complex subject matter.
Such is the case with today's quote about government, public finance, MOM and OPM.
In that regard, Notable & Quotable is short, sweet and true to the mark. It's also a timeless and accurate observation about the reality of who supports whom when it comes to the relationship between We the People and our "public servants."
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"From an 1876 speech by Civil War veteran, orator and Republican Party figure Robert Ingersoll:
I will now give you my ideas about finance. In the first place the Government does not support the people, the people support the Government.
The Government is a perpetual pauper. It passes round the hat, and solicits contributions; but then you must remember that the Government has a musket behind the hat. The Government produces nothing. It does not plow the land, it does not sow corn, it does not grow trees. The Government is a perpetual consumer.
We support the Government. Now, the idea that the Government can make money for you and me to live on—why, it is the same as though my hired man should issue certificates of my indebtedness to him for me to live on."
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Summing Up
What's so hard to understand about that?
But the speech was made 136 years ago, and its simple truth still goes unheeded by far too many of us minions and almost all government officials.
That said, we're gaining on it. The ugly reality about who supports whom is creeping into the public discussion, if for no other reason than it can no longer be avoided.
Thanks. Bob.
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