John Stuart Mill Quotes
Experience cannot possibly have decided between two courses, so long as there has only been experience of one.
John Stuart Mill, 1806-1873, Member of Parliament, British Political Economist, The Subjugation of Women, 1869
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He and his Prime Minister, John Majors, had become so unpopular, that they were forced to resign by their own Conservative Party and never had to be voted out of office.
A major problem in politics is that many governments and factions have at times acted against their own interest. The polarization of America at the beginning of the 21st century where each party would no sooner win an election than follow their passions and ideologies and then get thrown out of office by the voters. Or a nation going to war against a hated and traditional enemy when they did not have the military power or economic resources to prevail. One of the best examples was the Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands. Another was the American policy of isolationism prior to WWII. Both Napoleon’s and Hitler’s attempted invasions of Russia were also examples. Political parties even more commonly act for the passions of their base of supporters to their detriment. This is extremely common.
1st Earl of Beaconsfield. The last sentence some scholars think was originated by William Scott, a legal official of the British Navy.
When issues are complicated, trusting your instincts and intuition is very dangerous. There are so many variables that interact that you really have to analyze and think through all the possible options to avoid problematical unintended consequences and interactions.
This admonition of his applied not only to initiating war, but to increasing unemployment for a worthy purpose like controlling inflation. He sought solutions where pain was borne by tall if necessary, but not to particular subgroups (identifiable or not) to the degree that they would suffer badly. In general, we should not sacrifice some for the good of the whole without their volunteering, as in a volunteer army.
He fought in Algeria and other counterinsurgencies and then studied them. He wrote the classic book on counterinsurgency warfare. After all the mistakes the U. S. made after the successful invasion of Iraq, his book and doctrine were very influential in the change in strategy and tactics that turned the Iraq War in our favor.
“Erzatz” is a German word meaning imitation with the connotation that the imitation is far inferior to the original.
John Stuart Mill, usually cited as J. S. Mill, was an English philosopher, political economist, Member of Parliament, and civil servant. One of the most influential thinkers in the history of classical liberalism, he contributed widely to social theory, political theory, and political economy. Dubbed "the most influential English-speaking philosopher of the nineteenth century", he conceived of liberty as justifying the freedom of the individual in opposition to unlimited state and social control.
