"Wherever there is great property there is great inequality. For one very
rich man there must be at least five hundred poor, and the affluence of
the few supposes the indigence of the many. The affluence of the rich
excites the indignation of the poor, who are often both driven by want,
and prompted by envy, to invade his possessions. It is only under the
shelter of the civil magistrate that the owner of that valuable
property, which is acquired by the labour of many years, or perhaps of
many successive generations, can sleep a single night in security. He is
at all times surrounded by unknown enemies, whom, though he never
provoked, he can never appease, and from whose injustice he can be
protected only by the powerful arm of the civil magistrate continually
held up to chastise it. The acquisition of valuable and extensive property, therefore, necessarily requires the establishment
of civil government. Where there is no property, or at least none that
exceeds the value of two or three days labour, civil government is not
so necessary."
Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations, Book V, Chapter 1.45
(found via Left Business Observer, #136)
Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations, Book V, Chapter 1.45
(found via Left Business Observer, #136)
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