Benjamin Franklin: Greed of Kings

Posted by admin on Friday, July 30, 2010

Benjamin Franklin money quote on the greed of Kings and Pharaohs who would take everything from their people and make them lifelong slaves.
 

 

“There is scarce a king in a hundred who would not … get first all the people’s money, then all their lands, and then make them and their children servants for ever” — Benjamin Franklin

 

 

In this quote, Benjamin Franklin is criticizing the tendency of some monarchs to abuse their power at the expense of citizens. He suggests that out of every 100 kings, nearly all would try to first collect all the wealth of the people in the form of “money”, then seize control of their “lands” or property, and ultimately make the people and even future generations “servants for ever” by stripping away their freedoms and rights.

Franklin appears to be warning of the risks of unfettered royal authority, implying that without checks on their power many rulers would oppressively exploit subjects for financial and political gain. The overall interpretation is that Franklin saw this hypothetical scenario of total domination by kings as a threat to liberty that should be guarded against.