Peace, justice, and low taxes - the magic formula that actually works

From The collected works of Dugald Stewart.

Little else is requisite to carry a state to the highest degree of opulence from the lowest barbarism, but peace, easy taxes, and a tolerable administration of justice; all the rest being brought about by the natural course of things. All governments which thwart this natural course, which force things into another channel, or which endeavour to arrest the progress of society at a particular point, are unnatural, and to support themselves are obliged to be oppressive and tyrannical.

Dugald Stewart was both a student of Adam Smith as well as an advocate of his ideas. Attending early lectures given by Smith in 1755, Stewart made notes. Many of the ideas Smith explicated in the Wealth of Nations, 1776, were already developing in 1755.

What a formula for success.

Peace.
Justice.
Low taxes.

Works everywhere and for everyone. It is never as easy as that straightforward summary implies but it isn't rocket science. All you need is faith and trust in your fellow man, a commitment to freedom, and a confidence in the beneficial effects of emergent order.

However, a free, open society with low taxes, reliable justice, and trust in one's fellow man, while conceptually easy, provides markedly few opportunities for graft and corruption through politics. Conceptually easy, it is repugnant to those interested in self-advancement and unearned money and power.