The great enemy of freedom is the alignment of political power with wealth. This alignment destroys the commonwealth - that is, the natural wealth of localities and the local economies of household, neighborhood, and community - and so destroys democracy, of which the commonwealth is the foundation and practical means.
Interpretation
Wealth and political power, when intertwined, undermine democracy and the common good.
Wendell Berry's quote highlights the detrimental effects of the close relationship between political power and wealth. This alignment threatens the commonwealth, representing the shared resources and prosperity of communities, which in turn weakens democracy itself, as true democratic principles are rooted in equitable access to resources and a healthy local economy.
In practice
In a speech advocating for local businesses, you might say, 'As Wendell Berry reminds us, the alignment of political power with wealth threatens our democracy and local economies.'
We weren't allowing our hopes to become expectations. Expectations are tempting, pleasant, maybe necessary. They are scary too, once you have had some experience. They are not necessarily and not always a bucket of smoke, but they can be and are even likely to be.
The uplands of my home country in north central Kentucky are sloping and easily eroded, dependent for safekeeping upon year-round cover of perennial plants.
A corporation, essentially, is a pile of money to which a number of persons have sold their moral allegiance.
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A good constitution is infinitely better than the best despot.
We have already given in example one effectual check to the dog of war by transferring the power of letting him loose from the Executive to the Legislative body
When Estonia reestablished its sovereignty after a half century of successive thuggish, totalitarian, foreign occupations by the Soviets, the Nazis, and then again the Soviets, we knew we wanted to create a democratic country characterized by rule of law and respect for human rights.
If the Queen can reject the advice of a minister on a little thing like a postage stamp, what would happen if she rejected the advice of the Prime Minister on a major matter? If the Crown personally can reject advice, then, of course, the whole democratic facade turns out to be false
The only sure bulwark of continuing liberty is a government strong enough to protect the interests of the people, and a people strong enough and well enough informed to maintain its sovereign control over the goverment.
I do not want two classes of citizens in this country. I want everybody to prosper. That's going to be a top priority.
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