"No one knows how to make the government directly responsible to the taxpayers, while still using taxes for the common good even when the taxpayers may not be quite on board. The conundrum frustrates virtually all modern democratic governments. The dilemma is far worse in an era of mass communication, in which the complexity of many of the problems simply exceeds the taxpayers’ individual capabilities (to say nothing of the legislators’) to make informed judgments, and the media of communication reduce all subjects to caricatures and sound bites. Informed choice then becomes a pipe dream. (Perhaps it is heresy to say that, but honesty requires that it be said.)"
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Academics from the United StatesNon-fiction authors from the United StatesPeople from New York CityScience authorsPhysicists from the United States
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Chapter 14, “Public Decisions” (p. 108)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Harold_Lewis
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Harold Lewis
Harold Lewis (October 1, 1923 – May 26, 2011) was an American Emeritus Professor of Physics and former department chairman at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). He was chairman of the JASON Defense Advisory Group from 1966 to 1973, and was active in US government investigations into safety of nuclear reactors.
49 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Harold Lewis →
Related Quotes
"The better is the worst enemy of the plenty good enough."
"So the road to a decision involves five steps, each simple enough: list of the actions you can take (a decision is ju…"
"People seem to flinch at the word probability—it has too many syllables. Besides, it sounds mathematical, and it’s be…"
"Someone once said that he had made many mistakes in life, but never because he knew too much."
"There may be people who know more than you, and can therefore do a better job of predicting the odds. If you can find…"
"The laws of probability are mighty powerful, and they never sleep. If this were more widely understood there’d be a l…"
"The fact that self-interest can work against the common good is far-reaching, and no general solution is known."
"Despite the babbling of the creationists, evolution is inevitable in a competitive world, and it does work."
"It is always a good strategy for two players to join forces (or conspire) against the third, and to settle their own …"
"Much of the uncertainty in individual decision making comes from not knowing what we really want to achieve through t…"