David Harsanyi Quotes

Few things trigger fear and misconception more than economic tribulation, and nothing prompts elected officials to react with more simplistic populism.

It's difficult for democracy to function properly under the most favorable circumstances, but it has no chance at all when millions of voters are divorced from objective reality and incapable of understanding what is going on in Washington.

Progressivism is the belief that we have too much freedom with which to make too many stupid choices.

Aside from the occasional genocide, oppression, evil and torture, etc., it is inarguable that public policy could be implemented more rapidly in an autocracy.

Until genuine political, economic, and cultural liberty are established, democracy is unlikely to offer anything more than a simulacrum of legitimacy for an oppressive regime.

A boatload of government money is indeed a gift. Unless, I suppose, you're one of the saps paying for the cargo.

The problem is that Americans use the state as a moral compass. For libertarians, it is often frustrating to explain that advocating the decriminalization of x is not synonymous with endorsing x.

A religion without rules or God isn't sustainable.

Modern Democrats aren't the first political party to abuse power - far from it. Obama isn'€t the first president to abuse executive power - not by a longshot. But he has to be the first president in American history to overtly and consistently argue that he's empowered to legislate if Congress doesn'€t pass the laws he favors. It's an argument that's been mainstreamed by partisans and cheered on by those in media desperate to find a morsel of triumph in this presidency.

We have little choice but to place a certain level of trust in scientists - even when it comes to the model-driven speculative discipline of climate change. And, need it be said, most scientists take great care in being honest, principled and precise.

Now, I do not, on any level, possess the expertise to argue about the science of anthropological global warming. Nor do you, most likely. This certainly doesn't mean an average citizen has the duty to do the lock step.

'This is how democracy works,' Barack Obama lectured the country before giving everyone the specifics of his expansive one-man executive overreach on immigration. If you enjoy platitudinous straw men but are turned off by open debate and constitutional order, this speech was for you.

Ferguson argued that British involvement in World War I was unnecessary, far too costly in lives and money for any advantage gained, and a Pyrrhic victory that in many ways contributed to the end of the Empire.

Every decade or so, Hollywood has an epiphany. It turns out faith-based audiences enjoy going to the movies, too.

Faith helps many people make sense of the world around them. Faith gives them a spiritual connection to something larger.

Living most of my life in New York, I witnessed plenty of nanny state laws. Later, I lived in D.C. for a bit and saw even more. I assumed when I got to Colorado, the Wild West, there would be a rejection of such intrusive legislation. I was wrong.

The crusade to convince us that global warming can only be dealt with by wealth destruction and higher energy prices began with an effort to 'raise awareness,' which turned into some delicate nanny-state prodding before efforts to artificially inflate prices.

A cultural shift is not always an ideological one - or at least not always the one you imagine. Our norms are always evolving.

My parents both defected from communist Hungary and were what most people would today call libertarian. I grew up with a general distaste for taxation and any policy that intruded on our lives.

If the wealthy get wealthier, no one has to become one penny poorer.

The deepest mystery of Twitter is why celebrities and elected officials take part. After all, we all know they can't write their own lines.

Are you sick and tired of these moralizing moralizers imposing their morality on the rest of us? I know I am.

Obama acknowledges his overreach openly every time he argues that he intends to do the job of an obstinate Republican congress.

Simplification of the tax code would not only unlock dormant economic potential, but, in the process, it would blunt the preferred weapon of social engineers, who reward favored industries, punish success and distort economic incentives.

Throughout the Old Testament, God warns his chosen people about the perils of assimilation, shiksappeal and false gods.

When I was younger, I was drawn to Ayn Rand books and other works of fiction celebrating individualism.

It would probably strike the average politician as absurd to argue that the best way to fix the economy is to stop trying to 'fix it.'

As with most people, my ideology and my attitudes about life were informed by parents and family.

I believe that the war on drugs is a tragically misplaced use of resources - an immoral venture that produces far more suffering than it alleviates.

Anyone who's had a casual conversation with his neighbors or is cognizant of reality TV should already be petrified of democracy.

We need a smaller, leaner Washington. It won't happen if we raise taxes without any coinciding reform and serious slashing of spending.

You'll notice that for many progressives, taking from the rich is not simply a necessity of budgeting but a moral imperative and a tool to institute fairness that capitalism supposedly hasn't.

The realization that you can't predict the future
and mold it
could only come as a shock to an academic.

Democracy allows rhetoric, false empathy and emotion to pummel rational thinking - so it's no wonder so many politicians thrive in it.

In summation, like your beloved pet rock, Twitter is useful only in your imagination.

Common Core, the initiative that claims to more accurately measure K-12 student knowledge in English and math, also encourages children to step up their 'critical thinking.'

Let's be honest: nothing spoils 'The Walking Dead' quite like watching 'The Walking Dead.'