Wednesday, 4 February 2009

On the decline of Britain...quotes for the day...

...on moving from England to France...
"I have removed myself: not that I imagine things are much better, only slightly different, in France. But one does not feel the defects of a foreign country in quite the same lacerating way as the defects of one's native land; they are more an object of amused, detached interest than personal despair...
"...No wonder the British (and he could include Kiwis, Australians etc, etc) have changed in character, their sturdy independence replaced by passivity, querulousness, or even, at the lower reaches of society, a sullen resentment that not enough has been done for them. For those at the bottom, such money as they receive is, in effect pocket money, reserved for the satisfaction of whims. As a result they are infantilized. If they behave irresponsibly — for example by abandoning their own children — it is because both the rewards for behaving responsibly and the penalties for behaving irresponsibly have vanished..."
"... more from Theodore Dalrymple, here... and...legislators take note...

"Little else is requisite to carry a state to the highest degree of opulence from the lowest barbarism but peace, easy taxes and a tolerable administration of justice." Adam Smith...

It shouldn't be too difficult then should it ?

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