Mastodawn

Political virtue is a renunciation of oneself, which is always a very painful thing. One can define this virtue as love of the laws and the homeland. This love, requiring a continuous preference of the public interest over one’s own, produces all the individual virtues; they are only that preference.

[La vertu politique est un renoncement à soi-même, qui est toujours une chose très-pénible. On peut définir cette vertu, l’amour des loix & de la patrie. Cet amour, demandant une préférence continuelle de l’intérêt public au sien propre, donne toutes les vertus particulieres: elles ne sont que cette préférence.]

Charles-Lewis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755) French political philosopher
Spirit of Laws [The Spirit of the Laws; De l’esprit des lois], Book 4, ch. 5 (4.5) (1748) [tr. Cohler/Miller/Stone (1989)]

More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/montesquieu/82465/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #Montesquieu #homeland #lawabiding #lawfulness #patriotism #politicalvirtue #privateinterest #publicinterest #renunciation #selfsacrifice #virtue

Montesquieu - Spirit of Laws [The Spirit of the Laws; De l’esprit des lois], Book 4, ch. 5 (4.5) (1748) [tr. Cohler/Miller/Stone (1989)] | WIST Quotations

Political virtue is a renunciation of oneself, which is always a very painful thing. One can define this virtue as love of the laws and the homeland. This love, requiring a continuous preference of the public interest over one's own, produces all the individual virtues; they are only that preference.…

WIST Quotations

WIST Quotations Jan 14

A quotation from John Adams

Every Man must seriously set himself to root out his Passions, Prejudices and Attachments, and to get the better of his private Interest. The only reputable Principle and Doctrine must be that all Things must give Way to the public.

John Adams (1735-1826) American lawyer, Founding Father, statesman, US President (1797-1801)
Letter (1776-04-16) to Mercy Otis Warren

More about this quote: wist.info/adams-john/81374/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #johnadams #commongood #commoninterest #community #democracy #mutuality #privateinterest #publicgood #publicservice #republic #selfcontrol #selfdenial #selfinterest #selfmastery #selfpolicing #selfrespect #selfsacrifice #society

Adams, John - Letter (1776-04-16) to Mercy Otis Warren | WIST Quotations

Every Man must seriously set himself to root out his Passions, Prejudices and Attachments, and to get the better of his private Interest. The only reputable Principle and Doctrine must be that all Things must give Way to the public.

WIST Quotations

OccuWorld Jul 6, 2025

The Trial of Ayla King

https://crimethinc.com/2025/07/06/the-trial-of-ayla-king-the-first-of-the-stop-cop-city-rico-cases-goes-to-trial

On July 7, 2025, Ayla King will become the first of the Stop Cop City defendants absurdly charged with violating the RICO Act to go to trial.

#StopCopCity #AylaKing #RICOcharges #Protest #CorruptGovernment #PoliceState #MilitaryTraining #MilitaryEquipment #TerroristTraining #Israel #PublicVote #PrivateInterest #CorruptPoliticians #Profit #Atlanta #AbuseOfPower #USA

OccuWorld Aug 16, 2023

Nearly 500 ALEC Lawmakers Have Voted to Ban Abortion

https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2023/08/14/nearly-500-alec-lawmakers-have-voted-to-ban-abortion/

One of every three state lawmakers working to further restrict abortion rights since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year is affiliated with the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), an analysis by the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) reveals.

Note: ALEC is a sub group of CNP, a christofascist organization controlling dozens of groups.

#abortion #states #ALEC #CNP #billionaires #control #privateinterest #profit #fascism #womensrights #humanrights

Nearly 500 ALEC Lawmakers Have Voted to Ban Abortion - EXPOSEDbyCMD

One of every three state lawmakers working to further restrict abortion rights since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year is affiliated with the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), an analysis by the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) reveals.

EXPOSEDbyCMD

Show thread

Doc Edward Morbius ⭕Jul 24, 2023

I'd had this thought a day or so back, but it comes to mind again reading Allen's quote.

The notion of regulatory capture is well established these days.

It's sometimes acknowledged that it's a subset of the principle-agent problem.

But there seems to be no equivalent term for what I'd call capitalist capture or market capture, though @pluralistic's notion of #Enshittification captures much of the spirit: a good or service which is coöpted in the interests of private profit over public good, to a degree that it is a net disservice to both downstream customers and upstream providers.

The corruptions of private interest given the power to serve that interest excessively are manifold.

#RegulatoryCapture #corruption #MarketCature #CapitalistCapture #PrivateInterest