“The function of our Government is to insure to all its citizens, now and hereafter, their rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. If we of this generation destroy the resources from which our children would otherwise derive their livelihood, we reduce the capacity of our land to support a population, and so either degrade the standard of living or deprive the coming generations of their fight to life on this continent.” IfsChildrenGovernmentFightingLibertySupportRightsGenerationsLandCitizensStandardsResourcesCapacityFunctionOur ChildrenPopulationPursuitContinentsPursuit Of HappinessHereafterLivelihoodDegradeStandards Of LivingThis GenerationLife Liberty And The Pursuit Of HappinessRights To Life Author:Theodore Roosevelt
“First, this law - the National Defense Education Act - ended years and years of debate about one controversial question: 'Shall the Federal Government, with all its massive resources, get directly involved in aiding American education?' The answer this law gave was a loud 'Yes!' - and thus we paved the way for a new era of support for education in America. This law, in fact, helped make possible more than 50 new education laws passed in my administration.” WayYearsFirstsFactsGovernmentAmericaLawAnswersEducationSupportInvolvedResourcesDefenseDebateAdministrationErasLoudMassiveFederal GovernmentControversialNew EraNational DefenseAmerican EducationEducation In America Book:Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Lyndon B. Johnson, 1968-1969 Source: Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Lyndon B. Johnson, 1968-1969
“Governments will always play a huge part in solving big problems. They set public policy and are uniquely able to provide the resources to make sure solutions reach everyone who needs them. They also fund basic research, which is a crucial component of the innovation that improves life for everyone.” NeedsPlayProblemBigsGovernmentAblePolicyHugeSolutionsResearchResourcesInnovationFundCrucialComponentsBig ProblemsPublic PolicyBasic Research Author:Bill Gates
“You really do have to wonder whether a few years from now we’ll look back at the first decade of the 21st century — when food prices spiked, energy prices soared, world population surged, tornados plowed through cities, floods and droughts set records, populations were displaced and governments were threatened by the confluence of it all — and ask ourselves: What were we thinking? How did we not panic when the evidence was so obvious that we’d crossed some growth/climate/natural resource/population redlines all at once?” ThinkingWorldYearsFirstsLooksGovernmentAsksEnergyGrowthNaturalCitiesWonderRecordsCenturyEvidenceResourcesClimatePopulationObviousDecadesPanicFlood21st CenturyThreatenedNatural ResourcesDroughtWorld PopulationConfluence Author:Thomas Friedman
“The doctrine of the Declaration of Independence predicated upon the glory of man and the corresponding duty to society that the rights of citizens ought to be protected with every power and resource of the state, and a government that does any less is false to the teachings of that great document - false to the name American.” MenDoeStatesGovernmentNamesRightsTeachingDutyOughtCitizensGloryResourcesIndependenceDoctrineProtectedDocumentsDeclarationDeclaration Of IndependenceCorresponding Author:Calvin Coolidge
“The people with the most resources are the federal government. If you can invade a country halfway across the world in a matter of days, you can surely come to the aid of your own citizens in a shorter order of time.” PeopleIfsWorldCountryMatterGovernmentOrderCitizensResourcesAidsFederal GovernmentHalfway Author:Elvis Costello
“But politicians who talk about failed policies are just blowing smoke. Government policies succeed in doing exactly what they are supposed to do: channeling resources bilked from the general public to politically organized and influential interests groups.” GovernmentInterestGroupsPolicyPoliticianSucceedResourcesSmokeOrganizedInfluentialChannelingGeneral PublicInterest GroupsGovernment PolicyBlowing Smoke Author:Robert Higgs
“The reason territorial monarchs failed time after time against maritime powers was not that absolutist, non-consensual governments were incapable of building great fleets in peace - quite the reverse - but that they were unable to fund them in the crises of war. Mainly this was because they were forced to divert resources from the fleet to their armies, to fight territorial rivals frequently financed by their maritime enemy from the profits of sea trade.” WarReasonGovernmentFightingEnemySeaBuildingResourcesArmyCrisisTradeProfitFundReverseIncapableRivalsMonarchsTerritorialMaritime Author:Peter Padfield
“The building of a just and peaceful world order, the aim of the United Nations, is hampered not by a dearth of ideas, resources, and manpower but by the lack of will on the part of governments to take the required steps.” WorldIdeasGovernmentOrderNationsUnitedStepsBuildingResourcesAimPeacefulUnited NationsWorld OrderPeaceful WorldManpower Author:Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit
“Many governments are giving subsidies to fossil fuel production and consumption that encourage greenhouse gas emissions, at the same time as they are spending on projects to promote clean energy. This is a wasteful use of scarce budget resources.” GivingUseGovernmentEnergyProjectsResourcesCleanClimate ChangeProductionsSpendingBudgetsFuelGasConsumptionFossilsScarceFossil FuelEmissionsGreenhousesSubsidiesClean EnergyGreenhouse Gases Author:Jose Angel Gurria
“The actions of my government are not bearable. They devastate our natural resources and deprive our people. The politicians speak piously while practicing greed and divisiveness; they care nothing for the nation. I want to do more than withdraw my support. I want to tar and feather them.” PeopleWantGovernmentCareActionSpeakNationsNaturalSupportPoliticianResourcesGreedFeathersNatural ResourcesBearableDivisiveness Author:Donella Meadows
“From being a dream, dams have become a very cynical corrupt enterprise; a way of letting governments lay their hands on huge sums of money; a way of centralizing resources; a way of snatching rivers away from the poor and giving them to the rich. And so in a sense they've become monuments to corruption.” WayGivingDreamHandsGovernmentPoorRichHugeLetting GoResourcesRiversLaysCorruptionEnterpriseCynicalMonumentDams Author:Arundhati Roy
“We are not hated because we practice democracy, value freedom, or uphold human rights. We are hated because our government denies these things to people in Third World countries whose resources are coveted by multinational corporations. That hatred we have sown has come back to haunt us in the form of terrorism....” PeopleWorldHumansCountryGovernmentFormValuesPracticeDemocracyRightsResourcesHatredThirdsHuman RightsDenyTerrorismHatedCorporationsThird WorldMultinationalsThird World CountriesMultinational Corporations Author:Howard Zinn