Nassim Nicholas Taleb Quotes

Big business does not want honest government.

Business and politics have a wholesome and an unwholesome interface. You have to eliminate the unwholesome interface.

The system of building up, by corruption, political machines dominated by a boss whom the corporations believe essential to them for corrupt purposes of their own, is too deeply entrenched even yet in our national life.

Washington is corporate occupied territory …. The two parties are fighting it out to see who will take orders from their corporate paymasters.

The great Government we loved has too often been made use of for private and selfish purposes.

Unfortunately, public officials are largely controlled by the very corporations against which they should proceed.

One party is under the ironclad control of Wall Street and the other one caters to Wall Street.

We’d be crazy to let corporations get anywhere near our government. The only reason they want to influence government is to plunder—to steal from children.

The financial interests have captured the government institutions.

We [California] don’t have a corrupt legislature, but in part that’s because they don’t have a lot to sell — they don’t have that much discretion,”

And when the guy [politician] says “Yes, I took money, but it didn’t influence my vote”? Oh, come on. The company that’s giving you the money thinks it is going to influence the vote. Why else would they give you the money?

The use of such means and such agents [paid lobbyists] will have the effect to subject the State governments to the combined capital of wealthy corporations, and produce universal corruption, commencing with the representative and ending with the elector. Speculators in legislation, public and private, a compact corps of venal solicitors, vending their secret influences, will infest the capital of the Union and of every State, till corruption shall become the normal condition of the body politic.

Americans are not getting screwed by the Republican Party. They're getting screwed by the large corporations that bought and own the Republican Party.

Most people seem unaware that corporate influence and wealth has taken over public policy, such that government policy now favors the wealthy few at the expense of the people.

American politicians are responsive almost solely to the interests and desires of their rich constituents and interest groups that primarily represent big business.

Since the governments are in the pockets of businesses, who's going to control this most powerful institution? Business is more powerful than politics, and it's more powerful than religion. So it's going to have to be the vigilante consumer.

I think the American government is now the most corrupt government in the world.

Corporations are not people. They shouldn't be funding. They shouldn't be funding campaigns at all.

We do live in an environment of crony capitalism, and the main reason we do is that loopholes are for sale, and both parties have their hands out through those loopholes.

Sure there are dishonest men in local government. But there are dishonest men in national government too.

A large majority of Americans believe that corporations exert too much influence on our daily lives and our political process.

Our form of democracy is bribery, on the highest scale.

I ask the vice president to stop dodging the issue with legalese, and acknowledge his continued ties with Halliburton to the American people.

Corporations are poisoning our air and water while at the same time lining the pockets of elected officials with political contributions.

We make our public servants jump through quite a few hoops, you know. We get hysterical if they accept a $50 lunch from a lobbyist. We get hysterical if they accept a ride on some corporate jet.