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The Ayn Rand Lexicon: Objectivism from A to Z

Book by Ayn Rand · 14 quotes · Men, Rights, Values

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The Ayn Rand Lexicon: Objectivism from A to Z Quotes

“The source of the government's authority is “the consent of the governed.” This means that the government is not the ruler, but the servant or agent of the citizens; it means that the government as such has no rights except the rights delegated to it by the citizens for a specific purpose.”

MeanGovernmentPurposeRightsSourceCitizensAuthorityAgentsServantRulersConsentDelegationConsent Of The Governed
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“There is only one institution that can arrogate to itself the power legally to trade by means of rubber checks: the government. And it is the only institution that can mortgage your future without your knowledge or consent: government securities (and paper money) are promissory notes on future tax receipts, i.e., on your future production.”

MeanGovernmentSecurityTaxesPaperInstitutionsTradeNotesProductionsChecksOur FutureConsentYour FutureMortgageRubberReceiptsPaper Money
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“Freedom, in a political context, means freedom from government coercion. It does not mean freedom from the landlord, from the employer, or freedom from the laws of nature which do not provide men with automatic prosperity. It means freedom from the coercive power of the state ' and nothing else”

MenMeanDoeStatesGovernmentLawPoliticalProsperityEmployersLaws Of NatureCoercionLandlord
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“Economic power is exercised by means of a positive, by offering men a reward, an incentive, a payment, a value; political power is exercised by means of a negative, by the threat of punishment, injury, imprisonment, destruction. The businessman's tool is values; the bureaucrat's tool is fear.”

MenMeanPoliticalValuesLibertyEconomicCapitalismNegativeEconomicsToolsDestructionThreatRewardsPunishmentInjuryOfferingBusinessmanIncentivesPaymentPolitical PowerBureaucratsImprisonmentEconomic Power
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“There is no difference between communism and socialism, except in the means of achieving the same ultimate end: communism proposes to enslave men by force, socialism - by vote. It is merely the difference between murder and suicide.”

MenMeanEndsForceDifferencesLibertyEconomicAchieveAchievementVoteUltimateMurderSuicideLibertarianSocialismCommunismVotingLibertarianismProposeEnslavementCommunism And Socialism
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“A majority vote is not an epistemological validation of an idea. Voting is merely a proper political device--within a strictly, constitutionall y delimited sphere of action--for choosing the practical means of implementing a society’s basic principles. But those principles are not determined by vote.”

MeanIdeasActionPoliticalPrinciplesVoteMajorityDeterminedPracticalsVotingDevicesSpheresValidationBasic PrinciplesImplementingMajority Vote
Book:The Ayn Rand Lexicon: Objectivism from A to Z
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