“Campaign finance and ethics reform only works if it curtails all special interest groups equally and does not carve out any exceptions to benefit one party or another. 'Pay to play' reform was passed to limit the influence of big spending contractors over the public officials from whom they are trying to obtain work.” IfsTryingDoePlayBigsInterestPartyPayGroupsInfluenceSpecialLimitsBenefitsEthicsSpendingCampaignsFinanceReformOfficialsExceptionSpecial InterestsContractorInterest GroupsPublic OfficialsCampaign FinanceSpecial Interest Groups Author:Thomas Kean, Jr.
“Side by side with the miseries of underdevelopment...we find ourselves up against a form of superdevelopment, equally inadmissable. This superdevelopment consists in an excessive availability of material goods for the benefit of certain social groups and makes people slaves of "possession" and immediate gratification, with no other horizon than the multiplication or continual replacement of the things already owned with others still better. This is the civilization of consumption, or "consumerism," which involves so much throwing away and waste.” PeopleStillsFormCertainSocialSidesGroupsMaterialsCivilizationWasteBenefitsMiserySlavePossessionGoodsHorizonThrowingConsumptionConsumerismGratificationOverconsumptionReplacementsAvailabilityMultiplicationThrowing AwaySocial GroupsImmediate GratificationUnderdevelopment Author:Pope John Paul II
“I should like to begin with a philosophical comment. I do not think that when one is speaking of hardships or benefits one can reasonably speak in terms of classes or social groups but only in terms of individuals.” ThinkingShouldIndividualSpeakSocialTermClassGroupsBenefitsPhilosophicalHardshipCommentSocial Groups Author:John James Cowperthwaite
“An optimist is somebody who thinks our various political and social systems, schools and churches, support groups and Boy Scout troops, jury trials and congressional committees, are on the up-and-up. That they are intended for the benefit of the members. The reality is that they are designed to keep everyone in line.” ThinkingRealitySchoolPoliticalSocialChurchLinesBoysSupportGroupsMembersBenefitsVariousTrialsTroopsCommitteesOptimistJurySocial SystemsBoy ScoutSupport GroupsCongressional Committees Author:Jack McDevitt
“I always tell employees: The group's benefit is more important than your personal benefit.” ImportantGroupsBenefitsEmployee Author:Terry Gou
“Pacifism is a shifty doctrine under which a man accepts the benefits of the social group without being willing to pay; and claims a halo for his dishonesty.” MenSocialPayAcceptingGroupsWillingBenefitsClaimsDoctrineDishonestyPacifismHalosSocial Groups Book:Double Star Source: Double Star
“Individual versus group selection results in a mix of altruism and selfishness, of virtue and sin, among the members of a society. If one colony member devotes its life to service over marriage, the individual is of benefit to the society, even though it does not have personal offspring. A soldier going into battle will benefit his country, but he runs a higher risk of death than one who does not. An altruist benefits the group, but a layabout or coward who saves his own energy and reduces his bodily risk passes the resulting social cost to others.” IfsDoeCountryRunningIndividualEnergySocialSinResultsVirtueRiskGroupsHigherBattleCostMembersBenefitsSoldierSelfishnessCowardAltruismVersusSelectionOffspringColony Author:E. O. Wilson
“People think of taxes as money just being robbed from you. They don't consider the benefits of paying taxes. The benefits that they get and also the benefit of just being a part of a large group of people: a town, or a city, or a country, or a society that allegedly should stand together and all try to help each other.” PeopleThinkingShouldTryingCountryHelpingTogetherCitiesGroupsTaxesBenefitsTownsJust BeingHelping Each OtherLarge GroupsPaying Taxes Author:Michael Schur
“I get bored very easily, so I love doing different things, changing, doing a job for a month and then doing another one for six months and then moving into a different group of people. I love being able to stop. That's one of the greatest benefits we have in our profession.” PeopleDifferentAbleJobsMovingLove IsGroupsMonthsSixBenefitsProfessionBoredDifferent ThingsSix MonthsThings Change Author:Jeremy Irons
“Russia has the largest reserves of natural resources, including iron and natural gas. The market will develop in the long term, and the VW Group will benefit from it.” LongTermNaturalGroupsBenefitsResourcesIncludingRussiaLong TermGasIronReservesNatural ResourcesNatural Gas Author:Martin Winterkorn
“The feeling of being an Iraqi unites all ethnic groups within this country. Even the Kurds, who have traditionally pushed for their own state, see the benefits of the current situation. They enjoy an autonomous status in Kurdistan, while at the same time participating in decisions in Baghdad. But if neighboring states were to push for a partition of Iraq, it would be a horrible mistake.” IfsCountryStatesFeelingsWould BeEnjoyDecisionMistakeSituationGroupsBenefitsIraqCurrentsHorribleParticipatingBaghdadAutonomousPartitionKurdsEthnic GroupsCurrent SituationHorrible Mistakes Author:Zalmay Khalilzad
“Democratic capitalism: A cooperative enterprise to earn enough money to buy enough Congressional influence to gain control over the government's guns so as to get even more money for your special-interest group.Social democratic capitalism: A cooperative enterprise to promise sufficient government benefits to enough voters to gain control over the government's guns so as to keep any other special-interest group from getting as much power as yours.” EnoughGovernmentSocialInterestGroupsInfluenceSpecialPromiseBenefitsGunCapitalismGainsDemocraticSufficientEnterpriseVotersMore MoneySpecial InterestsCooperativesInterest GroupsSpecial Interest Groups Author:Gary North
“Competing against each other leaves little space for reciprocity and the growth of social capital. Running against another in a race may benefit our speed, but jointly organising the sports day produces cooperation and trust. There are many situations where cooperation and reciprocity are more effective than competition. Civic virtues come from building on what we have in common rather than by using our differences to create in-groups, outgroups and fear driven competition” MayLittlesRunningSocialSportsGrowthDifferencesSpaceCommonRaceSituationVirtueGroupsProduceBuildingBenefitsCompetitionSpeedDrivenCooperationCompetingCivicsReciprocitySocial CapitalCivic Virtue Author:Eva Cox
“The idea that a relatively fixed group of privileged people might shape the economy and government for their own benefit goes against the American grain. Nevertheless, the owners and top-level managers in large income-producing properties are far and away the dominant power figures in the United States. Their corporations, banks, and agribusinesses come together as a corporate community that dominates the federal government in Washington. Their real estate, construction, and land development companies form growth coalitions that dominate most local governments.” PeopleIdeasRealStatesGovernmentMightTogetherFormGrowthCommunityLevelsUnitedCompanyUnited StatesEconomyGroupsLandFiguresDevelopmentShapesBenefitsPropertyIncomeLocalsManagersCorporateCorporationsFixedOwnersConstructionGrainNeverthelessDominantEstatesPrivilegedFederal GovernmentCoalitionsLocal GovernmentAgribusiness Author:G. William Domhoff