#statepower — Public Fediverse posts

A quotation from Bertrand Russell

There are some among philosophers and statesmen who think that the State can have an excellence of its own, and not merely as a means to the welfare of the citizens. I cannot see any reason to agree with this view. “The State” is an abstraction; it does not feel pleasure or pain, it has no hopes or fears, and what we think of as its purposes are really the purposes of individuals who direct it. When we think concretely, not abstractly, we find, in place of “the State,” certain people who have more power than falls to the share of most men. And so glorification of “the State” turns out to be, in fact, glorification of a governing minority. No democrat can tolerate such a fundamentally unjust theory.

Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Lecture (1949-01-30), “Individual and Social Ethics,” Reith Lecture, No. 6, BBC Radio

More about this quote: wist.info/russell-bertrand/834…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #bertrandrussell #government #leadership #minority #oligarchy #power #state #statepower

A quotation from Bertrand Russell

There are some among philosophers and statesmen who think that the State can have an excellence of its own, and not merely as a means to the welfare of the citizens. I cannot see any reason to agree with this view. “The State” is an abstraction; it does not feel pleasure or pain, it has no hopes or fears, and what we think of as its purposes are really the purposes of individuals who direct it. When we think concretely, not abstractly, we find, in place of “the State,” certain people who have more power than falls to the share of most men. And so glorification of “the State” turns out to be, in fact, glorification of a governing minority. No democrat can tolerate such a fundamentally unjust theory.

Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Lecture (1949-01-30), “Individual and Social Ethics,” Reith Lecture, No. 6, BBC Radio

More about this quote: wist.info/russell-bertrand/834…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #bertrandrussell #government #leadership #minority #oligarchy #power #state #statepower

A quotation from Bertrand Russell

There are some among philosophers and statesmen who think that the State can have an excellence of its own, and not merely as a means to the welfare of the citizens. I cannot see any reason to agree with this view. “The State” is an abstraction; it does not feel pleasure or pain, it has no hopes or fears, and what we think of as its purposes are really the purposes of individuals who direct it. When we think concretely, not abstractly, we find, in place of “the State,” certain people who have more power than falls to the share of most men. And so glorification of “the State” turns out to be, in fact, glorification of a governing minority. No democrat can tolerate such a fundamentally unjust theory.

Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Lecture (1949-01-30), “Individual and Social Ethics,” Reith Lecture, No. 6, BBC Radio

More about this quote: wist.info/russell-bertrand/834…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #bertrandrussell #government #leadership #minority #oligarchy #power #state #statepower

A quotation from Bertrand Russell

There are some among philosophers and statesmen who think that the State can have an excellence of its own, and not merely as a means to the welfare of the citizens. I cannot see any reason to agree with this view. “The State” is an abstraction; it does not feel pleasure or pain, it has no hopes or fears, and what we think of as its purposes are really the purposes of individuals who direct it. When we think concretely, not abstractly, we find, in place of “the State,” certain people who have more power than falls to the share of most men. And so glorification of “the State” turns out to be, in fact, glorification of a governing minority. No democrat can tolerate such a fundamentally unjust theory.

Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Lecture (1949-01-30), “Individual and Social Ethics,” Reith Lecture, No. 6, BBC Radio

More about this quote: wist.info/russell-bertrand/834…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #bertrandrussell #government #leadership #minority #oligarchy #power #state #statepower

A quotation from Bertrand Russell

There are some among philosophers and statesmen who think that the State can have an excellence of its own, and not merely as a means to the welfare of the citizens. I cannot see any reason to agree with this view. “The State” is an abstraction; it does not feel pleasure or pain, it has no hopes or fears, and what we think of as its purposes are really the purposes of individuals who direct it. When we think concretely, not abstractly, we find, in place of “the State,” certain people who have more power than falls to the share of most men. And so glorification of “the State” turns out to be, in fact, glorification of a governing minority. No democrat can tolerate such a fundamentally unjust theory.

Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Lecture (1949-01-30), “Individual and Social Ethics,” Reith Lecture, No. 6, BBC Radio

More about this quote: wist.info/russell-bertrand/834…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #bertrandrussell #government #leadership #minority #oligarchy #power #state #statepower

Good points in here.

Yes, hypocrisy and arbitrariness are running amuck at the moment but the real danger is allowing mistrust in free enterprise (with appropriate regulations) to support a situation where there it becomes ok for using heavy-handed state power for arbitrary coercion. That is far more dangerous than any individual company's situation. https://www.theargumentmag.com/p/anthropic-and-the-right-to-say-no #Anthropic #StatePower #FreeSociety #FreeEnterprise #Coercion #Pentagon #AI #Principles #Policy #Hypocrisy #Business

The UDHR doesn't grant rights — it declares them. Then Article 29 quietly hands the state a master key to revoke any of them for "general welfare".

A right the state can limit is a license. A freedom requiring permission is a privilege with better branding.

🔗 https://kairos-prometheon.com/en/blog/2026-02-20-human-rights/

#HumanRights #UDHR #Statepower #Liberty #Sovereignty #Philosophy