Required reading for statists
Published by Yazad Jal April 23rd, 2004 in LibertarianDon Boudreaux at Cafe Hayek (super new blog, BTW) talks about his candidate for the most dangerous idea of modern times:
the deification of the state. By this I mean the widespread belief that a particular set of people who proclaim a selfless love of humanity and who follow prescribed rituals that take place in official temples (usually made of marble) can achieve whatever is asked of them by the laity — if only the priests aren’t corrupt and the laity have sufficient faith and tithe generously.[Emphasis mine]
If you build systems hoping and praying for saints to run them smoothly, don’t be surprised when they collapse.