Francis Fukuyama Quotes

Political power is now widely diffused; and whatever may be the evils of democracy, this good has come of it, that it has forced men to open their eyes to the misery of the masses, and to inquire more zealously as to the possibility of a better distribution of wealth.

The men of middling property and poor men can never be safe in a mixed representation with the men of over-grown property.

Unless we labor to help others achieve a reasonable stake in society, we may find ourselves losing the society in which we have too great a stake.

Democracy cannot flourish half rich and half poor, any more than it can flourish half free and half slave.

The bigger the gap there is between the rich and the poor, the less stable and successful the society will be

As liberty can never subsist without equality, nor equality be long preserved without an agrarian law, or something like it; so when men’s riches are become immeasurably or surprisingly great, a people, who regard their own security, ought to make a strict enquiry how they came by them, and oblige them to take down their own size, for fear of terrifying the community, or mastering it.

In a good society, those in the middle and at the bottom ought to benefit significantly from economic growth. When the country prospers, everybody should prosper.

In both Russia and the U.S., there are a very small number of very, very rich people, and then there are a lot of people who don't have anything. The less inequality you have in a society, the more social peace you have. It's kind of a no-brainer.

I think the success of democracy is not really police security; it's the presence of a broad middle class. The stronger the middle class of a people is, the less you have to worry about one group coming in and exploiting the democratic process for its own ends.

If you get so unequal that people believe they don't have a chance, that the field isn't level for them and their children, that puts democracy at risk.

An imbalance between the rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics.

No one should have more than five times the wealth of the poorest person.

If you have more rich people and more poor people and fewer people in the middle, what you lose is democracy.

Until economic freedom is attained for everybody, there can be no real freedom for anybody.

We’ve taken care not to penalize the wealthy but we have to redistribute some income …It is through reform that we can obtain fairness in the modern world…A reformed welfare state is the only way to obtain social justice.

We can have a democracy or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we cannot have both.

Unless you’re at the very top, you need a more equitable economy.

Capitalism is very undemocratic. Capitalism gives you power according to your wealth while democracy gives you power according to your existence.

Since Mill, in 1848, wrote his chapter on the future of the working classes, the question of the distribution of wealth has be-come of still greater importance. We cannot look round on the political phenomena of to-day without seeing that this question is at the root of them. We see the perplexity in which men stand, and the divisions springing up in our great political parties, because of the uncertainty of politicians how to grapple with it.

I know why we're strong. I know why we have held together; I know why we are united: it's because there's always been a growing middle class.

We must ensure the economy really works for all, to address unconscionable wealth and income disparities that allow access to opportunity for some over others.

The only way to have a better world and end poverty is by closing the gap between the top and the bottom.

No matter how wealthy a few plutocrats get, we can never drive a great national economy. Only a thriving middle class can do that.

If no man could become rich in Peru, no man could become poor.

If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.