Beth Cody > Quotes

“Any representative, state or federal, who votes for passage of a bill that is later judged to be unconstitutional will spend five years in jail and be fined a very large penalty. And our Supreme Court doesn’t move as slowly as yours did. Cases reach the Court within a year of filing.”
― Beth Cody, Looking Backward: 2162-2012 A View from a Future Libertarian Republic

“Only wealthy societies can afford to care about the environment. People who are worried about enough jobs for everyone, about putting food on the table – those people will always be on the side of more development, putting off environmental issues for later.”
― Beth Cody, Looking Backward: 2162-2012 A View from a Future Libertarian Republic

“Some people are born more beautiful or more coordinated or smarter than others. Should government operate on beautiful people to make them more ugly, or physically handicap people who are extra coordinated?” West looked horrified. “Yes, the idea rightly fills us with revulsion, yet you’re saying that you think it was okay for your government to make productive people poorer to try to ‘even out’ wealth.”
― Beth Cody, Looking Backward: 2162-2012 A View from a Future Libertarian Republic

“Oh, and another change from your system: our prisons are now privately owned and operated.” “Really?” West asked, frowning. “I thought governments in my time experimented with privatizing prisons and it didn’t work very well.” “That’s because those prisons weren’t really ‘private.’ They were still paid for by government tax dollars and operated as government-enforced monopolies. They didn’t have to compete to provide the best service at the best price. Of course they were almost as inefficiently-run as ones operated directly by government. “Now criminals can choose the prison they wish to live in, and must pay the costs themselves. This means that prisons compete to provide the best care at the lowest prices. They cannot abuse prisoners without being sued and going out of business, and they cannot overcharge or no one will choose their services.”
― Beth Cody, Looking Backward: 2162-2012 A View from a Future Libertarian Republic