Walter E Williams has died but he gave us wisdom

[dan_s]

Walter E. Williams, who many consider one of the greatest modern economists, has passed away at age 84.

On Property, Rights and Justice
1. My definition of social justice: I keep what I earn and you keep what you earn. Do you disagree?...how much of what I earn belongs to you--and why?

2. If one person has a right to something he did not earn, of necessity it requires that another person not have a right to something that he did earn.

3. Nothing in our Constitution suggests that government is a grantor of rights. Instead, government is a protector of rights.

4. There is no moral argument that justifies using the coercive powers of government to force one person to bear the expense of taking care of another.

5. Government has no resources of its own…government spending is no less than the confiscation of one person’s property to give it to another to whom it does not belong.

6. We don’t have a natural right to take the property of one person to give to another; therefore, we cannot legitimately delegate such authority to government.

7. Exercise of a right by one person does not diminish those held by another.

8. No matter how worthy the cause, it is robbery, theft, and injustice to confiscate the property of one person and give it to another to whom it does not belong.

9. The better I serve my fellow man…the greater my claim on the goods my fellow man produces. That’s the morality of the market.

10. The act of reaching into one’s own pockets to help a fellow man in need is praiseworthy and laudable. Reaching into someone else’s pocket is despicable.

Liberty versus Coercion
Government is about coercion. Limiting government is the single most important instrument for guaranteeing liberty.
Democracy is little more than mob rule, while liberty refers to the sovereignty of the individual.
The true test of one’s commitment to liberty and private property rights…comes when we permit people to be free to do those voluntary things with which we disagree.
In a free society, government has the responsibility of protecting us from others, but not from ourselves.
The essence of government is force, and most often that force is used to accomplish evil ends.
Economic planning is nothing more than the forcible superseding of other people’s plans by the powerful elite backed up by the brute force of government.
If we buy into the notion that somehow property rights are less important, or are in conflict with, human or civil rights, we give the socialists a freer hand to attack our property.
Substituting democratic decision making for what should be private decision-making is nothing less than tyranny dressed up.
It’s government people, not rich people, who have the power to coerce and make our lives miserable.
The moral tragedy that has befallen Americans is our belief that it is okay for government to forcibly use one American to serve the purposes of another–that in my book is a working definition of slavery.

Protecting our Rights and Liberties
Always be suspicious of those who…claim their way is the best way and are willing to force their way on the rest of us.
People who denounce the free market and voluntary exchange…are for control and coercion.
Economic planning is nothing more than the forcible superseding of other people’s plans by the powerful elite backed up by the brute force of government.
Politicians have immense power to do harm to the economy. But they have very little power to do good.
What our nation needs is a separation of “business and state”…That would mean crony capitalism and crony socialism could not survive.
The best good thing that politicians can do for the economy is to stop doing bad. In part, this can be achieved through reducing taxes and economic regulation, and staying out of our lives.
If we care about our remaining liberties we must at some point …let politicians and bureaucrats know we will not tolerate further encroachment on our God-given rights to liberty.
The public good is promoted best by people pursuing their own private interests.
Most of the great problems we face are caused by politicians creating solutions to problems they created in the first place.
If we’re ignorant, we won’t even know when government infringes on our liberties. Moreover, we’ll happily cast our votes for those who’d destroy our liberties.

Walter Williams had a great deal of wisdom to offer, and he passed that wisdom on to many. But there are many more of us who could still benefit from it.

I hope the examples here touch a chord with readers and lead them to further consideration of what he understood.