Jeremy Bentham, “Causes of All Mischiefs,” Plan of Parliamentary Reform (1817)

Abstract

Bentham believed that Britain was controlled by two domineering interests, the monarchical and the aristocratical, who joined forces to subdue the democratical or popular interest. They created a system of “drains” which they used to draw money out of the pockets of the blinded and delude people, which comprised war, overseas colonies, the British Navy, the splendor of the Monarch’s court, and the salaries of the placemen, pensioners, and other hangers-on of the state. The end result was the universal corruption of the ruling few at the expense of the subject many.