The period of Prohibition — called the noble experiment — brought on the greatest breakdown of law and order the United States has known until today. I think there is a lesson here. Do not regulate the private morals of people. Do not tell them what they can take or not take. Because if you do, they will become angry and antisocial and they will get what they want from criminals who are able to work in perfect freedom because they have paid off the police.
Gore Vidal, Matters of Fact and Fiction (1978)
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1 reply on “Gore Vidal”
Likewise to not expect any people, police or no, placed in a position where they must choose between the silver and the sword, to reliably choose the sword.