I ran across this quote in an email on the Christian Libertarian Yahoo Group, and it struck me in a particularly poignant way. It is sad, but so true, that Western civilization is spiraling. No one knows how long it can last as is. But one thing is for sure – it will not last. Something must give.
“Do you wish to know whether that day is coming? Watch money. Money is the barometer of a society’s virtue. When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion–when you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing–when you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors–when you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don’t protect you against them, but protect them against you–when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice–you may know that your society is doomed. Money is so noble a medium that is does not compete with guns and it does not make terms with brutality. It will not permit a country to survive as half-property, half-loot.”– Ayn Rand
I think Rand is spot on. This is why we need to End the Fed and stop the spending spree.
I highly recommend reading Francisco d’Anconia’s Money Speech from Atlas Shrugged in entirety. Great stuff…