Excessive taxation . . . will carry reason & reflection to every man's door, and particularly in the hour of election.
Interpretation
Excessive taxation prompts citizens to think critically about the political landscape, especially during elections.
This quote by Thomas Jefferson emphasizes the idea that when taxation becomes burdensome, it compels individuals to engage in thoughtful consideration of their government's actions and policies. Particularly during election times, the impact of heavy taxes can motivate citizens to evaluate which candidates or policies best reflect their interests and values.
In practice
During a political speech, one might say, 'As Thomas Jefferson noted, excessive taxation prompts us to carefully choose our leaders.'
The firmness with which the (American) people have withstood the... abuses of the press, the discernment they have manifested between truth and falsehood, show that they may safely be trusted to hear everything true and false and to form a correct judgment between them.
I, place economy among the first & most important republican virtues, & public debt as the greatest of the dangers to be feared
βWe must make our choice between economy and liberty or confusion and servitude...If we run into such debts, we must be taxed in our meat and drink, in our necessities and comforts, in our labor and in our amusements...if we can prevent the government from wasting the labor of the people, under the pretense of caring for them, they will be happy.
Very many and very meritorious were the worthy patriots who assisted in bringing back our government to its republican tack. To preserve it in that, will require unremitting vigilance.
A nation, as a society, forms a moral person, and every member of it is personally responsible for his society.
Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty.
I dont think that unless a greater effort is made by the Government to win popular support that the war can be won out there. In the final analysis, it is their war. They are the ones who have to win it or lose it. We can help them, we can give them equipment, we can send our men out there as advisers, but they have to win it, the people of Viet-Nam, against the Communists.
Too often, governments are quick to use excessive force and even pervert the course of justice to keep oil and gas flowing, forests logged, wild rivers dammed and minerals extracted. As the Global Witness study reveals, citizens are often killed, too - especially if they're poor and indigenous.
It has become more and more obvious that there is one political party in America, and that is The Business Party.
The Stamp Act imposed on the colonies by the Parliament of Great Britain is an ill-judged measure. Parliament has no right to put its hands into our pockets without our consent.
When scrutiny is lacking, tyranny, corruption and man's baser qualities have a better chance of entering into the public business of any government.
Collecting more taxes than is absolutely necessary is legalized robbery.
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