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Samizdata, derived from Samizdat /n. - a system of clandestine publication of banned literature in the USSR [Russ.,= self-publishing house]
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Samizdata quote of the day – why Big Government fosters corruption edition “The more big and active the state is, the more it is worth purchasing.”
– Deidre N McCloskey and Alberto Mingardi, The Myth of the Entrepreneurial State (page 97).
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Who Are We? The Samizdata people are a bunch of sinister and heavily armed globalist illuminati who seek to infect the entire world with the values of personal liberty and several property. Amongst our many crimes is a sense of humour and the intermittent use of British spelling.
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Yes indeed.
And this is why, for example, corruption was much greater under the Roosevelt and Truman Administrations than it has been under the Harding Administration – because the government was spending much more money under Roosevelt and Truman, so there was more money to steal, and government was enacting far more edicts under Roosevelt and Truman – so there was more reason to bribe politicians and officials, and as tax rates were much higher – so creating “loopholes” was more important.
Establishment “historians” (and the establishment media) ignore all this – and stress corruption under the Harding Administration, whilst ignoring the much greater corruption under the Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman Administrations.
However, corruption is not the biggest problem with the left.
The announced objective of the successful Democratic Party candidates in the New York City (the largest city in the United States) is the “total eradication of Western civilization”.
The “total eradication of Western civilization” – let that sink in. They will not allow one independent (“capitalist”) farm or anything else to survive – everyone (everyone) must be exterminated or enslaved – that is their objective.
And then tell me I am too harsh when talking about leftists.
The socialists whoâve been chosen in NYC primaries appear to be batshit insane.
What this also means is that by lacking a vaguely sane Democrat Party, the big cities of the coasts will further go to perdition. It also makes it easier for Republicans to hold power in close races where people are disgusted by the Dems, whatever their own failings, because the alternative is horrendous. Thatâs not good for the quality of government in general.
JP,
can you give a link about the socialists of NYC. I’m curious because what happens in the USA this year tends to migrate to these Shittish Isles.
When buying and selling are controlled by legislation, the first things to be bought and sold are legislators.
Sadly, in NYC, there are almost no close races in which the R’s can profit from the DSA takeover of the Dems’ primaries. The winners of the D primaries generally are shoo-ins for the general election.
So the DSA really did pull off a coup there.
NickM: Reason magazine has been covering how barmy and nasty these people are:
https://reason.com/2026/06/24/socialists-hijacked-my-city/
https://cbs12.com/news/nation-world/mamdani-backed-house-candidates-deleted-posts-called-for-abolishing-police-borders-democratic-socialist-nyc-adriano-espaillat-primary-blm-bernie-sanders-aoc-joe-biden
https://reason.com/2026/06/25/only-fools-gloat/
https://reason.com/2026/06/24/darializa-avila-chevalier-will-be-this-congress-first-campus-radical/
We are off topic from my original post, although I am sure the blog will cover the NYC descent into hell as and when. The whole topic is just too fucking depressing, TBH.
Nick: Try This story about Mamdani’s plans for housing in NYC.
“When buying and selling are controlled by legislation, the first things to be bought and sold are legislators.”
In the US, the huge pots of Medicaid and Medicare money used to be administered through the fed gov.
One big source of money, lots of fraud, lots of local complaints.
Then, we switched to simply giving the individual states their own big pot of money and told them to administer the payouts themselves.
But lo – now each state turned into its own center for graft and fraud, and hundreds of billions more were stolen.
So, really, by decentralizing the money piles, we just changed from wholesale fraud to retail fraud.
DOGE is still providing us with a framework for (at least) being able to track the fraud, and so we’re making progress, but the OP is correct at heart – so much money is always going to be worth larcenous effort.
Of corruption I have often said that the problem is not that the lobbyists are buying politicians, it is that politicians have something to sell.
In a sense the only solution to corruption in government is small, limited government, that way there is no influence to sell.
But back in the real world I have come to the conclusion that corruption is a necessary part of democratic government. In a democracy the vast majority of the people are at the bottom of the pyramid, and as soon as they realize they can vote benefits from the public treasury from themselves, there is no constraining force to limit them eating the seed corn.
But corruption is that limiting force. Politicians follow the mob to get their votes, but they also have the reverse pressure of needing to sell their souls to the the people with the money.
So it is a sort of Faustian bargain, a way to keep the mob from overwhelming the government.
I’ve always been very fond of that quote.
JP, Ted,
Thanks. Horribly informative đ
Fred,
That’s QOTD material!
“Mamdani graduated from the Bronx High School of Science before receiving a bachelor’s degree in Africana studies from Bowdoin College in 2014.”
-Wikipedia.
Congrats USA! We have the “Titty Whisperer” who also taught “Circus Skills*” and you got Mamdani who once was a rapper.
What the Hell is “Africana Studies”? And isn’t “Bowdoin” a bit taking the knee. I just looked at the website (slick) and it looks woke as woke can be. I was amused that it’s courses on women and gender was illustrated with LEGO minifigs. I used LEGO at Nottingham University. I built robots. I was doing a degree in physics and no “studies” were harmed.
I’m not going to say anything about this.
*When I was an undergrad “Circus Skills” was a big thing. It was invariable indulged in by wankers, twats, people who have gone to a Russell Group University to become street artistes (essentially very annoying beggars), and the Christian Union. The other categories need no explanation but the C. U. ? Apparently it was about chastity. Seriously. Learn to ride a unicycle and you don’t wanna ride anything else.
The “total eradication of Western civilization” speaks for itself – it is clear.
This is what the left have wanted for a long time – they do not really want to create a better society on the ashes of the old, they just want the ashes – and the dried blood.
And this is what the education system supports – so the left has a Legion of followers.
âtotal eradication of Western civilizationâ. So they’ll be pouring concrete down the drains, ripping out all water pipes and electrical services, destroying cars, buses, trains, hospitals, libraries…. Well, if they want that, let them have it. Don’t expect Snake Plissken to help you.
How can you identify an “honest politician”?
Once they are bought, they STAY bought”.