QUOTE OF THE DAY: “This is the underlying disease of the body politic…” [updated]

[This is] the underlying disease of the body politic…: That too many people accept (or leave unchallenged) the premise that it's okay to steal from other people so long as the government does it, and passes out the loot equally.
    So long as this idea retains its undeserved respect in our culture, we will elect bandits to office, our [local and central] governments will compete in a race to be the main gang in our neighborhoods, our wealth will be sapped in one way or another (since loot has to come from somewhere), and everyone will be looking for a way to make sure everyone else is equally screwed…
    I don't want an equal share of loot. I want freedom.”
           
              - Gus Van Horn, in his posts “Equal Tyranny for All?” and “Case in Point”
                   [hat tip Wealth is Not the Problem]

UPDATE:  A related quote on the Age of the Moocher:

It is a truly tragic development that in America -- a country founded on the principle of the inviolability of private property -- half of us prey on the substance of our neighbors.”
               - Vasko Kohlayer, “Ban the Income Tax”