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Blogs > Liberty and Power > L'etat c'est moi

Jul 1, 2004

L'etat c'est moi


by Liberty and Power


“And when asked where he lived, Saddam Hussein replied:"I live in every Iraqi house."” (Quoted from the BBC.)

That’s what happens when you don’t have robust property rights.


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Jonathan Rick - 7/5/2004

An op-ed (http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/02/opinion/02MONT.html) in last week's NY Times also draws on Louis XIV's maxim, "L'état, c'est moi," vis-a-vis Saddam:

"As was evident at an Iraqi judicial hearing in Baghdad yesterday, Mr. Hussein will continue to exploit the drama of his special prestige to say, effectively, American puppets may come and go, but, as Louis XIV put it, ''état, c'est moi.'"

Jonathan Rick
http://students.hamilton.edu/2005/jrick/