---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is something fundamentally unfair…"
description: "\"There is something fundamentally unfair about a government that takes away so much of people's money, power, and personal control while telling them th..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca2/steve-forbes-17158_government_there-is-something-fundamentally-unfair_1823655.jpg"
---

#  There is something fundamentally unfair about a government…

![“There is something fundamentally unfair about a government that takes away so much of people's money, power, and personal control while telling them that life will be better as a result.” quote by Steve Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca2/steve-forbes-17158_government_there-is-something-fundamentally-unfair_1823655.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca2/steve-forbes-17158_government_there-is-something-fundamentally-unfair_1823655.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca2/steve-forbes-17158_government_there-is-something-fundamentally-unfair_1823655.jpg)

> “There is something fundamentally unfair about a government that takes away so much of people's money, power, and personal control while telling them that life will be better as a result.”

[Steve Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-forbes/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

A government that heavily taxes and controls citizens while promising better outcomes is intrinsically unjust.

**In simple terms:** Heavy control with false promises is unfair.

Key Takeaway

Question authority and demand transparency.

Themes

politics justice economics

Mood

skeptical critical

Type

political commentary

When to use this quote

- voting
- activism
- policy debate
- personal finance

Key Concepts

taxation social contract power dynamics

Questions to Reflect On

- What checks can limit governmental overreach?
- How do you balance security with freedom?

A Different Perspective

Promises may be sincere but outcomes often fall short.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government/) [Money](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/money/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/)

## Related quotes

> [As the old saying goes, 'money is power' and the more money the government takes, the more power it has over individuals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-mcglowan/as-the-old-saying-goes-money-is-power-and-the-more-money-the/)

Angela McGlowan

> [Whenever people with money have power over people with less money, you have the potential for exploitation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-weiner/whenever-people-with-money-have-power-over-people-with-less-money-you/)

[Jennifer Weiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-weiner/)

> [I have a prejudice against people with money. I have known so many, and none have escaped the corruption of power. In this I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/i-have-a-prejudice-against-people-with-money-i-have-known-so-many-and/)

[Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/)

> [“Heavens no!” said rich dad. “The government always takes its share first.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-t-kiyosaki/heavens-no-said-rich-dad-the-government-always-takes-its-share-first/)

[Robert T. Kiyosaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-t-kiyosaki/)

> [When government takes away options, it is bound to make some people worse off, even with intrinsicallly good intentions behind that government intervention.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/when-government-takes-away-options-it-is-bound-to-make-some-people/)

[Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/)

> [BUREAUCRACY You have two cows. The government takes them both, shoots one, milks the other, pays you for the milk, and then pours it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikhil-saluja/bureaucracy-you-have-two-cows-the-government-takes-them-both-shoots/)

[Nikhil Saluja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikhil-saluja/)

> [The government takes the opposition day debates incredibly seriously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-leadsom/the-government-takes-the-opposition-day-debates-incredibly-seriously/)

[Andrea Leadsom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-leadsom/)

> [In Europe, Socialism is just another political party. It just means that government takes over certain things like hospitals, prisons, military and schools that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/in-europe-socialism-is-just-another-political-party-it-just-means/)

[Bill Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-maher/)

> [“But as our forebears knew, and as we see more all the time, when government takes on too much, it becomes too powerful. When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-reding/but-as-our-forebears-knew-and-as-we-see-more-all-the-time-when/)

[Patricia Reding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-reding/)

> [“In all times and in all places, whatever may be the name that the government takes, whatever has been its origin, or its organization,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/errico-malatesta/in-all-times-and-in-all-places-whatever-may-be-the-name-that-the/)

[Errico Malatesta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/errico-malatesta/)

> [“In bad countries the government takes care of everyone. In the best ones that's not necessary!‏”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/celso-cukierkorn/in-bad-countries-the-government-takes-care-of-everyone-in-the-best/)

[Celso Cukierkorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/celso-cukierkorn/)

> [Every person has only so much attention to give, and politics and government takes up only a fraction of what it did 25 years ago.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-teeter/every-person-has-only-so-much-attention-to-give-and-politics-and/)

[Robert Teeter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-teeter/)

> [The first big choice: a government with the strength to deliver stability, or a government that takes the country back to boom and bust.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-blair/the-first-big-choice-a-government-with-the-strength-to-deliver/)

[Tony Blair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-blair/)

> [I've seen it with my own eyes: When government takes money from the poor and the middle class, everyone suffers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-quigley/i-ve-seen-it-with-my-own-eyes-when-government-takes-money-from-the/)

[Mike Quigley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-quigley/)

> [Why is it that any time government takes over something for a few years, its assumed that people are too incompetent to do it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-sanchez/why-is-it-that-any-time-government-takes-over-something-for-a-few/)

[Julian Sanchez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-sanchez/)

## More by Steve Forbes

> [The Declaration of Independence, the words that launched our nation -- 1,300 words. The Bible, the word of God -- 773,000 words. The Tax…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-forbes/the-declaration-of-independence-the-words-that-launched-our-nation-1/)

[Steve Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-forbes/)

> [You don't change minds in Washington with sweet reason. You do it to the white light of public opinion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-forbes/you-don-t-change-minds-in-washington-with-sweet-reason-you-do-it-to/)

[Steve Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-forbes/)

> [Our failure to properly deal with Germany and Japan early cost the world dearly later on. We dare not make the same mistake with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-forbes/our-failure-to-properly-deal-with-germany-and-japan-early-cost-the/)

[Steve Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-forbes/)

> [As more money flowed through Washington and as Washington's power to regulate our lives grew, opportunities and temptations for graft, influence peddling and cutting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-forbes/as-more-money-flowed-through-washington-and-as-washington-s-power-to/)

[Steve Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-forbes/)

> [The words, 'penalty,' 'restrict' and 'violate' appeared more times in President Clinton's health care reform bill than in his crime bill.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-forbes/the-words-penalty-restrict-and-violate-appeared-more-times-in/)

[Steve Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-forbes/)

> [You make more money selling advice than following it. It's one of the things we count on in the magazine business -- along with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-forbes/you-make-more-money-selling-advice-than-following-it-it-s-one-of-the/)

[Steve Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-forbes/)

> [I think the idea of trying to demonize Governor Romney's going to backfire. Their attempts so far have failed pretty outstandingly and I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-forbes/i-think-the-idea-of-trying-to-demonize-governor-romney-s-going-to/)

[Steve Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-forbes/)

> [No more turning a blind eye to Chinese spies in our nuclear labs. No more keeping silent about Chinese slave labor camps.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-forbes/no-more-turning-a-blind-eye-to-chinese-spies-in-our-nuclear-labs-no/)

[Steve Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-forbes/)

> [The phenomenon of home schooling is a wonderful example of the American can-do attitude. Growing numbers of parents have become disenchanted with government-run public…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-forbes/the-phenomenon-of-home-schooling-is-a-wonderful-example-of-the/)

[Steve Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-forbes/)

> [We must guard against the overreaching hand of big government trying to take away our freedom. And we must always protect the environment in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-forbes/we-must-guard-against-the-overreaching-hand-of-big-government-trying/)

[Steve Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-forbes/)

> [Start by scrapping the tax code. Don't fiddle with it. Junk it. Throw it out. Bury it. Replace it with a pro-growth, pro-family tax…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-forbes/start-by-scrapping-the-tax-code-don-t-fiddle-with-it-junk-it-throw-it/)

[Steve Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-forbes/)

> [As our federal government has grown too large and too powerful, the real loss has been the freedom of people to govern their own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-forbes/as-our-federal-government-has-grown-too-large-and-too-powerful-the/)

[Steve Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-forbes/)

> [The Chinese government is quickly losing its ideological legitimacy, maintain its rule with force, but cannot draw strength from the ideology of Marx and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-forbes/the-chinese-government-is-quickly-losing-its-ideological-legitimacy/)

[Steve Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-forbes/)

> [A promise made should be a promise kept.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-forbes/a-promise-made-should-be-a-promise-kept/)

[Steve Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-forbes/)

> [Mr. Greenspan did a very good job in the early 1990's. But recently he's fallen prey to this crazy theory that prosperity causes inflation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-forbes/mr-greenspan-did-a-very-good-job-in-the-early-1990-s-but-recently-he/)

[Steve Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-forbes/)

[Explore all 38 Steve Forbes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-forbes/)

## More Government quotes

> [We could form a government of national unity fighting corruption. The ordinary Afghan is sick and tired of it, because it's she or he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashraf-ghani/we-could-form-a-government-of-national-unity-fighting-corruption-the/)

[Ashraf Ghani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashraf-ghani/)

> [For the Scottish government, the practice of having meetings in different parts of the country is well established, but for the U.K. government, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicola-sturgeon/for-the-scottish-government-the-practice-of-having-meetings-in/)

[Nicola Sturgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicola-sturgeon/)

> [“The global population of Earth are involved in the following corporate government experiments: The long term effects of - 1. Nuclear bomb fallout radiation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/the-global-population-of-earth-are-involved-in-the-following/)

[Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/)

> [Philosopher is a dictator who modifies accepted standards with his thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilkin-santak/philosopher-is-a-dictator-who-modifies-accepted-standards-with-his/)

[Ilkin Santak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilkin-santak/)

> [Right now we're concerned about budget. Right now we're concerned about the prospect of interest rate rise. We're concerned about government corruption, government handing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amity-shlaes/right-now-we-re-concerned-about-budget-right-now-we-re-concerned/)

[Amity Shlaes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amity-shlaes/)

> [One of the worst things to come out of the Consumer Protection Board's misleading claims is the impression that government resources are to hard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-lesko/one-of-the-worst-things-to-come-out-of-the-consumer-protection-board/)

[Matthew Lesko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-lesko/)

> [It is afraid of an informed, angry public demanding the constitutional government it was promised - and it should be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-snowden/it-is-afraid-of-an-informed-angry-public-demanding-the-constitutional/)

[Edward Snowden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-snowden/)

> [Louisiana's spicy, colorful politics have saddled our state with a reputation for tolerating lax ethical standards in government.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kennedy/louisiana-s-spicy-colorful-politics-have-saddled-our-state-with-a/)

[John Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kennedy/)

> [Government schools, with your tax money, now discourage the teaching of multiplication tables by rote memorization but teach reading by the 'look-and-say' method which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-perry/government-schools-with-your-tax-money-now-discourage-the-teaching-of/)

Greg Perry

> [It's easy to say, let's go in and get the bad guys. But you have a divided country of Sunnis and Shias. The United…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tulsi-gabbard/it-s-easy-to-say-let-s-go-in-and-get-the-bad-guys-but-you-have-a/)

[Tulsi Gabbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tulsi-gabbard/)

> [He is almost a statesman. He lies well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/he-is-almost-a-statesman-he-lies-well/)

[Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/)

> [If you believe in democracy, why shouldn't you know what the government is doing?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/if-you-believe-in-democracy-why-shouldn-t-you-know-what-the/)

[Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/)

> [I mean those people who are interested in good government will certainly contribute in order to make certain there's some counter-balance to those whose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-breyer/i-mean-those-people-who-are-interested-in-good-government-will/)

[Stephen Breyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-breyer/)

> [We can't have a government that will collapse in three months.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-varadkar/we-can-t-have-a-government-that-will-collapse-in-three-months/)

[Leo Varadkar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-varadkar/)

> [Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/believing-with-you-that-religion-is-a-matter-which-lies-solely/)

[Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/)

[Browse all 21,248 Government quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "There is something fundamentally unfair about a government that takes away so much of people's money, power, and personal control while telling them that life will be better as a result.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Steve Forbes"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-forbes/there-is-something-fundamentally-unfair-about-a-government-that-takes/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Government"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-forbes/there-is-something-fundamentally-unfair-about-a-government-that-takes/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca2/steve-forbes-17158_government_there-is-something-fundamentally-unfair_1823655.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca2/steve-forbes-17158_government_there-is-something-fundamentally-unfair_1823655.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca2/steve-forbes-17158_government_there-is-something-fundamentally-unfair_1823655.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“There is something fundamentally unfair about a government that takes away so much of people's money, power…” — Steve Forbes",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Steve Forbes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-forbes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "There is something fundamentally unfair about...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-forbes/there-is-something-fundamentally-unfair-about-a-government-that-takes/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-forbes/there-is-something-fundamentally-unfair-about-a-government-that-takes/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
