In the Analog Kid’s absence, we’ll hold off on the Greenspan and Rand quotes, and instead go back to Ben Franklin! I missed commenting on his recent 300th birthday, so some recognition of the good man’s enduring wisdom is overdue!
“Our country is open, and strangers may establish themselves in America, where they soon become citizens and are respected according to their conduct. The only encouragements we hold out to strangers are a good climate, fertile soil, good pay for labor, kind neighbors, good laws, liberty, and a hearty welcome. The rest depends on a man’s own industry and virtue. Lands are cheap, but they must be bought. All settlements are undertaken at private expense: the publilc contributes nothing but defense and justice.”
–Benjamin Franklin, The Compleated Autobiography, (Mark Skousen, ed.) p. 289.
Â