I am frequently confronted with people who wouldn’t want liberty if it fell in their lap.
They crave totalitarianism of one type or another.
They either love the idea of a theocracy based on their idea of God, or they want a nanny state making them feel safe from womb to tomb by taking away choices and — so they believe — chance.
Yet, these aren’t the people who make me feel most hopeless.
People who almost "get it" bother me more than those who are completely clueless. They see some of the problems, yet don't see how their support of destructive laws and institutions actually ensures the problems will continue and get worse with time.
There's one person who complains about congress, Muslims, and Cannabis, but who still believes government and more laws are where the solutions lie. His faith in this is immovable. He objects when I propose solutions which would require an examination of his faith.
If your problem is a snake which keeps biting you while you bathe, the solution isn't to put a muzzle on it, beg it to stop biting, feed it more often, swap out the snake for a different one, stop bathing, or add another bathroom to your house. No, the solution is to remove the snake from your bathtub.
People who are emotionally invested in victimhood, which depends on keeping the snake in their tub, will come up with every excuse imaginable for avoiding a permanent solution. After all, what if you remove the snake and rats take up residence in your tub? Or what if a worse snake shows up to fill the void? To me, the solution is obvious: deal the same way with the next snake or rat infestation. It is your responsibility.
You'll never fix government. The institution is founded upon theft and aggression. It feeds on belief in authority and in the belief that wrong can be made right by a majority vote or by writing a law. History shows you can't control government with constitutions or laws- it is not in the self interest of government employees to comply with either. You can't solve anything by hiring or electing different people, because the people drawn to government jobs are all cut from the same cloth: they all believe in authority, and seek out government jobs so they can have power with fewer consequences.
It's time for a change. You aren't throwing out the baby with the bathwater. There is no baby, and that's not water.
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"You aren’t throwing out the baby with the bath water. There is no baby, and that’s not water."
ReplyDeleteExcellent! I offer a slightly different response when I have that metaphor thrown at me:
"The baby is a demon seed and the water is 100% sewage. Throw it ALL out."