Quotation of the Day…

(Don Boudreaux)

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… is from page 419 of Tom Palmer’s April 12th, 2005, address (“Challenges of Democratization“) to members of the Iraqi National Assembly, as this address is reprinted in Tom’s excellent 2009 book, Realizing Freedom:

Democracy is not magic. Having a democracy does not guarantee instant wealth, health, or happiness. All that democracy can guarantee is the right to “the pursuit of happiness.” It cannot guarantee the achievement of happiness, or even good fortune. Those must be earned by effort in a law-governed and just society in which the rewards to effort are protected by law, and not confiscated by the injustice of the powerful.