Liberty Quotation of the Day: Theodore Dalrymple on Social Engineering

Quote Posted on June 10, 2014 Updated on June 10, 2014

“Theoretically, in a liberal democratic polity, anything that can be done is capable of being undone.  But in practice this is not really so.  To undo reform or reverse cultural change is like trying to make eggs out of omelettes.  That is why social engineering is not like civil engineering.  A bridge’s design errors can be righted, but not the ill consequences of a reform.”

Theodore Dalrymple, “The Eagle and the Insect,” May 14, 2014