[cloudmountain]

Lyndon Baines Johnson: "The Great Society."

NOT.

[T-Bone Texan]

I want my $22 trillion back.

- The taxpayer

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

Lyndon Baines Johnson: "The Great Society."

SOME writers have so confounded society with government, as to leave little or no distinction between them; whereas they are not only different, but have different origins. Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our happiness POSITIVELY by uniting our affections, the latter NEGATIVELY by restraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions. The first is a patron, the last a punisher.

Society in every state is a blessing, but Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil - Thomas Paine, Common Sense (1776)

We have known since 1776 that “society” is not a synonym but a euphemism for “government.”

It follows that a politician running for the position of head of government has no business boasting of the ability to produce a “great" "society.” America shoulda known:

Losing Ground:

American Social Policy, 1950-1980
- Charles Murray