But the many are not capable of making this calculation; and those who lead them to rapine never intend this distribution.
Edmund Burke: “But the many are not capable of making this calculation; and those who lead them to rapine never intend this…”
Editor's note · Context
In his critique of revolutionary impulses, Burke observes that the masses often fail to grasp the true economic outcomes of redistribution, while their leaders have ulterior motives.
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I think our happy situation owing to our Constitution,--but owing to the whole of it, and not to any part singly,--owing in a great measure to what we have left standing in our several reviews and reformations, as well as to what we have…
Not being illuminated with the light of which the gentlemen of France tell us they have got so abundant a share, they acted under a strong impression of the ignorance and fallibility of mankind.
Let us imitate their caution, if we wish to deserve their fortune or to retain their bequests.





