“The stupidity of the average man will permit the oligarch, whether economic or political, to hide his real purposes from the scrutiny of his fellows and to withdraw his activities from effective control. Since it is impossible to count on enough moral goodwill among those who possess irresponsible power to sacrifice it for the good of the whole, it must be destroyed by coercive methods and these will always run the peril of introducing new forms of injustice in place of those abolished.”

— Reinhold Niebuhr

Source: (1932), p.21

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Reinhold Niebuhr 65

American protestant theologian 1892–1971

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Reinhold Niebuhr 65

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