An emailer sent me these lines from Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged, a conversation between a government official and a businessman:
“We’ve waited a long time to get something on you. You honest men are such a problem and such a headache. But we knew you’d slip sooner or later- and this is just what we wanted.”
“You seem to be pleased about it.”
“Don’t I have a good reason to be?”
“But after all, I did break one of your laws.”
“Well, what do you think they’re for?”
“Did you really think that we want those laws to be observed?...We want them broken. You’d better get it straight that it’s not a bunch of boy scouts you’re up against-then you’ll know this is not an age for beautiful gestures. We’re after power and we mean it.” ... “There’s no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren’t enough criminals, one makes them...Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens?...But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced nor objectively interpreted- and you create a nation of law-breakers- and then you cash in on guilt.”
