You can't give the government the power to do good without also giving it the power to do bad - in fact, to do anything it wants.
Interpretation
Granting power to the government for good purposes can also enable it to exercise power for negative ends.
This quote by Harry Browne highlights the inherent duality of government power. While the intention may be to empower the government to enact positive change, such as social welfare or protection, it simultaneously opens the door for potential misuse of that power, leading to negative outcomes that could infringe on individual freedoms and rights. Therefore, one must be cautious about how much authority is entrusted to the government, as it can be leveraged for both benevolent and malevolent purposes.
In practice
This quote is useful in a debate about governmental policy and authority.
Asset forfeiture is a mockery of the Bill of Rights. There is no presumption of innocence, no need to prove you guilty (or even charge you with a crime), no right to a jury trial, no right to confront your accuser, no right to a court-appointed attorney (even if the government has just stolen all your money), and no right to compensation for the property that's been taken.
Government seems to operate on the principle that if even one individual is incapable of using his freedom competently, no one can be allowed to be free.
Conservatives say the government can't end poverty by force, but they believe it can use force to make people moral. Liberals say government can't make people be moral, but they believe it can end poverty. Neither group attempts to explain why government is so clumsy and destructive in one area but a paragon of efficiency and benevolence in the other.
No one ever died from smoking marijuana, but millions of people have died by believing politicians.
When you know that you're capable of dealing with whatever comes, you have the only security the world has to offer.
A great burden was lifted from my shoulders the day I realized that no one owes me anything.
The organized workers of America, free in their industrial life, conscious partners in production, secure in their homes and enjoying a decent standard of living, will prove the finest bulwark against the intrusion of alien doctrines of government.
Democracy relies on free speech. Yes, say anything you want, but it relies even more on the speech being truthful. It is the truth, after all, that sets us free.
The government is us; WE are the government, you and I."- Theodore Roosevelt
Once upon a time my political opponents honored me as possessing the fabulous intellectual and economic power by which I created a worldwide depression all by myself.
All political power comes from the barrel of either guns, pussy, or opium pipes, and people seem to like it that way.
The blunt truth about the politics of climate change is that no country will want to sacrifice its economy in order to meet this challenge.
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