Saturday, September 07, 2024

Allowing politics to divide us tragic

(My Eastern New Mexico News column for August 4, 2024)




Politics divides. That's the nature of the thing; what it's designed to do.

Worse, politics often culminates in elections. Every election feels like the majority coming together to give a mass murderer the keys to my house and holding me at gunpoint to make sure I won’t do anything about it.

This is an outcome I can't consent to. But in the name of democracy-- even if it was once a republic-- it’s the outcome which is guaranteed every time. Other political systems are not better.

It's natural that politics divides. No one wants to be ruled by people who have different values and preferences, and the power to enforce those values and preferences on them. Dog lovers don't want cat lovers put in control to outlaw dogs and persecute dog lovers. I can't blame them. Yet this is what politics is and what it does. It can't be otherwise.

Why is this hard to understand?

It's a ridiculous system. Society doesn't need to be run, which is good since it's not possible to run one. Any attempt to run society ruins society.

Politics guarantees that all elections are rigged. Even if there's no overt cheating, liberty is never on the ballot because there’s no option to abolish the political office.

I’m not saying all candidates are equal, or equally evil. I think the gross communist who promises to cut everyone down to achieve equity-- equality of outcomes rather than equality of rights-- is the worst possible choice. Others think the weird nationalist who is the focus of lawfare and who wants to imprison people over freedom of expression is more dangerous.

Both believe, without proof, that they have the right to govern you. This is an utterly absurd superstition, but it’s a popular belief they use to their advantage against you. As long as you don’t realize it’s superstitious nonsense, they have you under control.

The country, communities, friends, and families are divided over which one of these people should be running things. Neither should be. The last people you want to give power to are those who want power. It's disqualifying.

Allowing politics to divide us is a tragedy. Nothing will change as long as politics, through government and legislation, has the power to control our lives, destroy our liberty, and violate our natural human rights. This is the inevitable outcome. Don't pretend to be surprised when you get exactly what you choose.
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1 comment:

  1. “Both believe, without proof, that they have the right to govern you. This is an utterly absurd superstition, but it’s a popular belief they use to their advantage against you. As long as you don’t realize it’s superstitious nonsense, they have you under control.”

    Rulership is evil, by anyone. The only way it has ever ‘worked’ is to impose robbery, slavery and death on the submissive and gullible, and it never will do anything else for as long as it is tolerated to exist.

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