These principles it is necessary strictly to attend to, because they will serve much to explain the whole course both of government and real property, wherever the German nations obtained a settlement; the whole of their government depending for the most part upon two principles in our nature,-ambition, that makes one man desirous, at any hazard or expense, of taking the lead amongst others; and admiration, which makes others equally desirous of following him from the mere pleasure of admiration, and a sort of secondary ambition, one of the most universal passions among men. These two principles, strong both of them in our nature, create a voluntary inequality and dependence.

When any work seems to have required immense force and labor to affect it, the idea is grand. Stonehenge, neither for disposition nor ornament, has anything admirable; but those huge rude masses of stone, set on end, and piled each on other, turn the mind on the immense force necessary for such a work. Nay, the rudeness of the work increases this cause of grandeur, as it excludes the idea of art and contrivance; for dexterity produces another sort of effect, which is different enough from this.

The Crown of Great Britain cannot, in my opinion, be too magnificent. Let us see some great public works set on foot; let it never be said, that the Commons of Great Britain failed in what they owe to the first Crown in the world. Looking up to royalty, I do say, it is the oldest and one of the best parts of our constitution. I wish it should look like royalty; that it should look like a King; like a King of Great Britain.

The rich in all societies may be thrown into two classes. The first is of those who are powerful as well as rich, and conduct the operations of the vast political machine. The other is of those who employ their riches wholly in the acquisition of pleasure. As to the first sort, their continual care and anxiety, their toilsome days and sleepless nights, are next to proverbial. These circumstances are sufficient almost to level their condition to that of the unhappy majority; but there are other circumstances which place them in a far lower condition. Not only their understandings labour continually, which is the severest labour, but their hearts are torn by the worst, most troublesome, and insatiable of all passions, by avarice, by ambition, by fear and jealousy. No part of the mind has rest. Power gradually extirpates from the mind every humane and gentle virtue. Pity, benevolence, friendship, are things almost unknown in high stations.

Laws, like houses, lean on one another.

The writers against religion, whilst they oppose every system, are wisely careful never to set up any of their own.

A great profusion of things, which are splendid or valuable in themselves, is magnificent. The starry heaven, though it occurs so very frequently to our view, never fails to excite an idea of grandeur. This cannot be owing to the stars themselves, separately considered. The number is certainly the cause. The apparent disorder augments the grandeur, for the appearance of care is highly contrary to our idea of magnificence. Besides, the stars lie in such apparent confusion, as makes it impossible on ordinary occasions to reckon them. This gives them the advantage of a sort of infinity.

A definition may be very exact, and yet go but a very little way towards informing us of the nature of the thing defined.

A diversity of opinion upon almost every principle of politics, had indeed drawn a strong line of separation between them and some others. However, they were desirous not to extend the misfortune by unnecessary bitterness; they wished to prevent a difference of opinion on the commonwealth from festering into rancorous and incurable hostility. Accordingly they endeavoured that all past controversies should be forgotten; and that enough for the day should be the evil thereof. There is however a limit at which forbearance ceases to be a virtue. Men may tolerate injuries, whilst they are only personal to themselves. But it is not the first of virtues to bear with moderation the indignities that are offered to our country.

Cities make sleeping outside illegal, destroying homeless encampments, arresting people for existing while poor. Criminalization doesn't solve homelessness - it disappears the homeless from view. Out of sight maintains property values and comfortable consciences. Punishing poverty is cheaper than housing people.

Universities employ PhDs on poverty wages with no benefits or job security while administrators make six figures. Adjuncts are exploited for their passion, trapped by years of educational investment. Academic labor exploitation proves even education institutions prioritize profit over people.

Student debt crushes generations, delaying homeownership, family formation, retirement. Not accident - policy choice. Debt disciplines workers, prevents risk-taking, ensures compliance. Student debt is control mechanism disguised as opportunity.

Public-private partnerships privatize profits while socializing risks. Government funds infrastructure, corporations extract revenue. When projects fail, taxpayers absorb losses; when they succeed, shareholders collect gains. It's not partnership - it's wealth transfer disguised as innovation.

Only in America do people choose between health and financial ruin. Medical bankruptcy is policy choice, not inevitable outcome. We could have universal healthcare but choose a system that destroys families financially while claiming to provide care. The cruelty is the point.

Tax policy redistributes wealth upward. Capital gains taxed lower than wages, loopholes for wealthy, enforcement targeting poor. The rich evade while the poor pay. Taxation isn't neutral arithmetic - it's class struggle by spreadsheet.

Museums display stolen art while rich donors get naming rights. Cultural institutions launder wealth through philanthropy. Billionaires fund public goods they should have paid for through taxes, gaining social prestige while maintaining inequality. Museums become monuments to wealth inequality disguised as public service.

We produce enough food to feed everyone while millions starve. Restaurants discard edible food, grocery stores destroy expiring products, farms let produce rot rather than lower prices. Food waste coexists with hunger because feeding people is less profitable than maintaining scarcity.

Universities produce PhDs knowing no jobs await. They exploit graduate student labor, then abandon degree-holders to contingent poverty. The academic job market is pyramid scheme: many enter, few succeed, all blame themselves. Structural unemployment presented as individual failure.

Poor neighborhoods lack grocery stores but overflow with fast food. Not accident - design. Healthy food is expensive and inaccessible while corporations profit from selling diabetes and heart disease. Food deserts are class warfare through nutritional deprivation.

Despite laws and diversity initiatives, discrimination pervades workplaces. It's just more subtle, harder to prove, embedded in systems. Unconscious bias, cultural fit, networking advantages - discrimination continues through mechanisms that evade accountability while producing same outcomes.

Immigration enforcement terrorizes communities, separates families, fills detention centers owned by private companies profiting from human caging. Deportation isn't about security - it's about controlling labor, instilling fear, extracting profit. Cruelty is the point; someone's making money.

Schools in poor communities increasingly resemble prisons: metal detectors, police presence, zero tolerance policies. This isn't safety - it's criminalization. Young people learn they're threats to be contained rather than students to be nurtured. Pipeline from classroom to cell.

Emotional labor - managing others' feelings, providing care, maintaining morale - is work but unpaid or underpaid. Disproportionately done by women and people of color. Emotional labor sustains workplaces but receives no recognition. Exploitation hiding in plain sight.

We fund wars but not healthcare, bombs but not schools, empire but not infrastructure. Military spending is jobs program for districts, profit for contractors, political power for hawks. The military-industrial complex bleeds resources that could transform lives, wasted on death.

Rich parents bribed universities to admit unqualified children, revealing what everyone knew: college admission isn't meritocratic. Legacy admissions, donor influence, private tutors, expensive test prep - legal advantages that dwarf the illegal ones. The scandal is that the quiet part was said aloud.

Fitness culture is class performance. Gym memberships, personal trainers, organic food, leisure time to exercise - all require resources poor people lack. Then we judge bodies shaped by poverty, calling health a personal choice while ignoring economic determinants.

Eviction is poverty's engine. You lose housing, then jobs, then children, then hope. Evictions concentrate in poor Black neighborhoods, devastate communities, enrich landlords. The eviction machine churns through lives, destroying stability while extracting maximum rent. Homelessness is profitable for property owners.

Quality childcare costs as much as college while childcare workers earn poverty wages. Parents can't afford care; workers can't survive on wages. This crisis isn't mysterious - we refuse to collectively fund what families and children need. Childcare should be infrastructure.

We treat mental health crises with individual therapy while ignoring collective causes: economic insecurity, social isolation, overwork, hopelessness. Capitalism creates conditions making people miserable, then sells them treatment. The problem is structural; the solution is medical. This isn't care - it's pacification.

Nonprofits often perpetuate what they claim to solve. Staff need social problems to continue; funders want measurable outcomes but not systemic change; beneficiaries become clients rather than agents. The nonprofit savior complex maintains hierarchy while claiming service.

Green capitalism won't save us. Electric cars, solar panels, sustainable products - all maintain consumption while appearing eco-friendly. Real environmental change requires less production, not greener production. Green capitalism is rebranding, not revolution.

Toxic workplaces aren't management failures - they're profit strategies. High turnover means lower wages, no accumulated benefits, constant fear. Toxic cultures keep workers compliant, prevent organizing, maximize extraction. The cruelty serves capital; your suffering is someone's quarterly earnings.

Prisoners work for pennies, producing goods for corporations who profit massively. It's slavery by another name: forced labor, no meaningful compensation, captive workforce. The 13th Amendment didn't abolish slavery; it relocated it behind prison walls where we pretend not to see.

Endless war is profit engine. Defense contractors need conflict to justify budgets. Politicians need threats to maintain power. Media needs drama to sell advertising. War persists not because it works but because powerful interests benefit from its continuation.

Charter schools defund public education while serving fewer students and producing mixed results. Not education reform - wealth transfer. Tax dollars flow to private operators while public schools starve. Privatizing education creates tiered access: quality for the wealthy, remains for everyone else.

Voter ID laws, purged rolls, closed polling places, felony disenfranchisement - suppression isn't glitch but feature. When voting is hard, poor people and people of color vote less. Voter suppression maintains minority rule by wealthy white populations.

Nonprofit boards require wealth and connections, ensuring rich people control organizations serving poor communities. Decision-making power concentrates among those least affected by problems. Boards become gentry philanthropy, maintaining class hierarchy while claiming service. The helped have no voice in helping.

Technology could reduce necessary labor, giving humanity leisure, creativity, fulfillment. Instead, automation threatens workers while enriching owners. We could work less; instead we're insecure about working at all. Automation under capitalism is threat, not liberation. The machines should free us, but ownership determines outcomes.

Borders don't stop migration; they create illegal status that enables exploitation. Undocumented workers are more exploitable, less likely to complain, easier to deport when organizing. Borders aren't about security - they're about controlling labor and wages through artificial legal categories.

Insurance companies profit by collecting premiums and denying claims. They hire actuaries to minimize payout, lawyers to fight coverage, lobbyists to write favorable laws. You pay for security but receive bureaucratic warfare. Insurance is legalized gambling where the house always wins.

Climate change will displace hundreds of millions, creating refugee crises that dwarf current ones. Wealthy nations caused climate change through pollution; poor nations will produce refugees. Then wealthy nations will close borders, letting people die for climate crimes they didn't commit.

Internet access determines opportunity, yet it's treated as luxury not necessity. Homework requires internet; job applications are online; services move digital. The digital divide isn't technological - it's economic. Excluding poor people from digital life is policy choice.

Wellness culture tells you to meditate through poverty, yoga through exploitation, mindful through oppression. Self-care becomes individual responsibility for problems capitalism creates. The wellness industry profits from packaging symptom management as solution while leaving causes untouched.

Landlords don't produce value - they own things. They extract rent, generate no wealth, contribute nothing. Landlording is parasitism: controlling necessities and charging access fees. Housing should be human right, not profit center.

Inclusion without transformation maintains oppression. Corporations celebrate diversity while exploiting all workers. Politicians promise representation while serving capital. Predatory inclusion absorbs resistance, neutralizes demands for change, makes oppression multicolored. Diversity becomes alibi for continued extraction.

We're more connected than ever but lonelier. Not because of smartphones - because of capitalism. Atomized individuals competing for scarce resources can't build community. Work exhaustion leaves no energy for relationships. Geographic mobility destroys local bonds. Loneliness is economic structure, not personal failure.

White-led nonprofits serving communities of color perpetuate colonial dynamics. Resources flow through white organizations to people of color, maintaining gatekeeping power with white hands. The nonprofit white savior centers expertise over lived experience, maintaining racial hierarchy while claiming service.

Companies increasingly profit not from creating value but from controlling access to necessities. Patents on life-saving medicine, copyrights extending decades, monopolies on infrastructure - rent-seeking extracts wealth through ownership rather than production. Parasitic capitalism where controllers profit while producers struggle.

Uber drivers aren't contractors - they're employees misclassified to avoid benefits, protections, and taxes. Gig companies built empires on labor law evasion. Misclassification is wage theft and tax avoidance, perfectly legal because companies write laws.

We're sold identity through consumption. You're not person but consumer, defined by purchases. This isn't natural - it's manufactured. Consumerism distracts from collective action, provides temporary satisfaction instead of lasting fulfillment, and keeps you working to buy things you don't need.