“The notion that a society could be regulated entirely by market forces is a utopian fantasy: an impossible dream generated by imagining what the world would be like if everyone's behavior was utterly consistent with some abstract moral ideal-in this case, economic theories that assume all human action is based on calculating, systematic, (but scrupulously law-abiding), greed.” IfsWorldHumansDreamWould BeActionLawForceMoralCasesFantasyImpossibleEconomicTheoryBehaviorIdealsAssumingNotionGreedLibertarianAbstractConsistentAbidingSystematicUtopianCalculatingHuman ActionsEconomic TheoryImpossible Dream Author:David Graeber
“In this world laws are written for the lofty aim of "the common good" and then acted out in life on the basis of the common greed. In this world irrationality clings to man like his shadow so that the right things get done for the wrong reasons - afterwards, we dredge up the right reasons for justification. It is a world not of angels but of angles, where men speak of moral principles but act on power principles; a world where we are always moral and our enemies always immoral; a world where "reconciliation" means that when one side gets the power and the other side gets reconciled to it.” MenWorldMeanReasonDoneLawSpeakSidesCommonMoralEnemyPrinciplesWrittenThis WorldAngelShadowBasesAimGreedRight ThingJustificationAngleImmoralReconciliationLoftyCommon GoodIrrationalityMoral PrinciplesWrong ReasonsRules For Radicals Author:Saul Alinsky
“In 302, the Roman emperor Diocletian commanded "there should be cheapness," declaring, "Unprincipled greed appears wherever our armies ... march. ... Our law shall fix a measure and a limit to this greed." The predictable result of Diocletian's food price controls were black markets, hunger and food confiscation by his soldiers. Despite the disastrous history of price controls, politicians never manage to resist tampering with prices -- that's not a flattering observation of their learning abilities.” ShouldLawBlackAbilityResultsPoliticianLimitsArmyGreedSoldierHungerDespiteManageObservationMarchPredictableEmperorFlatteringDeclaringCheapnessRoman Emperor Author:Walter E. Williams
“We're always projecting our moral categories on things. I think that's inevitable. But capitalism places no particular value on morality. Morality in the market is enforced by contract and regulation and law, because morality is understood to be in conflict with the motive force of greed and accumulation.” ThinkingLawValuesForceMoralParticularMoralityConflictUnderstoodCapitalismGreedInevitableMotiveContractsCategoriesRegulationAccumulation Author:Michael Pollan