P. J. O'Rourke Quotes

The pathos of it all is that the America which is to be protected by a huge military force is not the America of the people, but that of the privileged class.

Whenever the very rich hold views at odds with those of the entire population, the federal government tends to do the rich's bidding.

Where enough money calls the tune, the general public will not be heard.

Sadly, the system in this country is rigged in favor of wealthy elites who have purchased tremendous influence in our government.

I think the big problem is you have a vicious cycle of wealth and power in America that's just gotten completely out of control and you've seen it in politics.

All the power's in the hands of people rich enough to buy it.

I look at my people, and I look at those who control them - the political elite. And the sad thing is that the elites are just not interested in the welfare of the people.

What is black empowerment when it seems to benefit not the vast majority but an elite that tends to be recycled?

Anger is wonderful. It keeps you going. I'm angry about bankers. About the government.

If work was a good thing, the rich would have it all and not let you do it.

The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all.

Listen friends, you have to face the truth: You are never going to be rich... The system is rigged in favor of the few, and your name is not among them, not now and not ever.

Government exists to protect the interests of the powerful from the will of the people.

Where some people are very wealthy and others have nothing, the result will be either extreme democracy or absolute oligarchy, or despotism will come from either of those excesses.

Written laws are like spiders' webs, and will, like them, only entangle and hold the poor and weak, while the rich and powerful easily break through them.

Who takes the blame: the leader who talks of poverty but lives in luxury, or the poor who choose a leader of that type?

There are two Americas. One which influences government and economic policy and the other which must live with the results.

You don't want Congress peopled by millionaires.

America is like a melting pot. The people at the bottom get burned, and the scum floats to the top.

In every country, and under every government, particular men may be too rich.

The elites benefit from affirmative action programs even when those programs are designed to help the masses.

Of the 1 Percent. By the 1 Percent. For the 1 Percent.

The rich don’t need to rely on government … -- they can buy … things for themselves. In the process, they become more distant from ordinary people, losing whatever empathy they may have once had. They also worry about strong government: one that could use its powers to … take some of their wealth, and invest it for the common good.

Civil government, so far as it is instituted for the security of property, is in reality instituted for the defense of the rich against the poor, or of those who have some property against those who have none at all.

When conservatives talk about opportunity, they mean opportunities for the rich to get richer, for the powerful to get more powerful.