Government, specifically that particularly malignant form known as The State, has had several thousand years to do what its supporters claim as the reasons we must put up with it. And every single form it has taken over those countless generations, and every time it has been tried, it has failed to fulfil the justifications. Every time without exception. Remind me again why "we" put up with this heavy and filthy baggage we keep dragging around?
The supporters of The State claim government protects the innocent who live under it. Yet nothing kills more innocent people than does The State.
They claim it prevents thieves from stealing with impunity. Yet, nothing steals more and has harsher penalties for resisting its theft than The State.
They claim it provides a safety net for the poor, lame, old, and weak. Yet it does more to prevent people from taking care of themselves, and each other, than any institution that has ever been dreamed up. It creates dependency and removes incentives to help oneself. It penalizes those who wish to help others by erecting a prison of regulations around those it "protects". It literally "protects" them to death.
If its supporters were honest they would either admit this failure or admit they are lying about why they insist The State must be imposed on you and me.
If they were forced to admit they are lying about their excuse for imposing government, would they be honest about the true reasons? I doubt it. Would they really admit that they want the power to make people do what they want them to do, and reserve the power to kill those who don't comply. Would they admit that they think they know better how you should run your life than you do. Would they admit, that deep down, they hate people? Or are they even fooling themselves?
*
"Yet it does more to prevent people from taking care of themselves, and each other, than any institution that has ever been dreamed up."
ReplyDeleteSuch a key point, which I don't see around near often enough.
"But what about the poor?" Without the government, they would be vastly richer. "What about the sick?" Did you know doctors used to do house calls? Did you know that doctors used to have the time and energy to treat some people out of pure concern, not because they were being paid?
Government doesn't merely fail. It's not merely wasteful. It actually un-solves previously solved problems.
Absolutely. Like "crime". Crime is a solved problem when you don't violate the basic human right of each of us to own and to carry effective weaponry. Only when you make it dangerous to be caught with a gun do the bad guys get the upper hand. Government un-solved crime and then uses the problem its policies created as an excuse to violate us even more. I've had enough!
ReplyDeleteLike Harry Browne said: "Government breaks your legs, gives you a crutch, and says, 'See, if it weren't for me, you wouldn't be able to walk!'"
ReplyDelete[Vagabond's addition: then it takes your crutch.]
I love that crutch line. I'm going to improve it, though.
ReplyDeleteGovernment.
It seizes a monopoly on crutches, then breaks your legs, then claims, "How would you walk without government?"
Simply vile.