Sunday, September 28, 2008

Why I love P.J O'Rourke

Because he says things like this :
From Parliament of Whores (1991) 
  • Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.
  • The whole idea of our government is this: If enough people get together and act in concert, they can take something and not pay for it.
  • Every government is a parliament of whores. The trouble is, in a democracy, the whores are us. 
Eat the Rich (1999):
  • Your money does not cause my poverty. Refusal to believe this is at the bottom of most bad economic thinking.
Give War a Chance (1992) :
  • You can't get good Chinese takeout in China and Cuban cigars are rationed in Cuba. That's all you need to know about communism.
FromThe Liberty Manifesto (1993):
  • There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences.
  • If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it's free.
From All the Trouble in the World (1994):
  • A politician is anyone who asks individuals to surrender part of their liberty — their power and privilege — to State, Masses, Mankind, Planet Earth, or whatever. This state, those masses, that mankind, and the planet will then be run by ... politicians
  • Of course, the humans in Haiti have hope. They hope to leave.
  • War is a great asshole magnet.
Why I Am a Conservative (1996):
  • There is no virtue in compulsory government charity, and there is no virtue in advocating it. A politician who portrays himself as caring and sensitive because he wants to expand the government's charitable programs is merely saying that he is willing to do good with other people's money. Well, who isn't? And a voter who takes pride in supporting such programs is telling us that he will do good with his own money— if a gun is held to his head. 
P.J. is an awesome satarist, journalist and a political commentator. I'd highly reccomend his two books, Parliament of Whores and Eat the Rich.

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