There are two passions which have a powerful influence in the affairs of men. These are ambition and avarice—the love of power and the love of money. Separately, each of these has great force in prompting men to action; but, when united in view of the same object, they have, in many minds, the most violent effects.
(also posted at Photon Courier as part of my Worth Pondering series)
They don’t make them any wiser than Franklin, but he also noted that giving to the public good was also a great things, and thus he gave away his Franklin stove, “invented” the public library, and developed the postal system as we now know it.
the short view: no use having a Rolls Royce if the public streets were not built cared for by the state (city, state, govt).
Franklin here is not arguing against government activity but rather arguing that the ladder of political influence/power and the ladder of moneymaking should be *different*.
His statement that offices in the France of that time were not particularly profitable to the purchaser/officeholder (follow link for his extended remarks) is, I think, incorrect…my impression is that the holders of sufficiently elevated offices were officially exempt from taxaction.