One man’s opinion of government:
I think it would go a long way for people to stop romanticizing government. With a tiny handful of world historical examples, practically everyone who goes into government is doing so to gain power and money. It is corrupt and corrupting from top to bottom, even at its best. Anyone who goes into government is morally suspect, and anyone who supports government is at best naive. These are what one has to start with to deal with the kraken.
Wherever government extends its tentacles, private institutions are forced to give way. Government does not put up with competition for long. And it doesn’t have to. It doesn’t engage in trade, it doesn’t engage in reason — it engages in force, and force alone. Even each seeming trade is with the force of guns behind it. The fact of the matter is that whoever has the guns on their side is who is in charge. The guns turned against Mubarak, the guns turned against the Soviet government; the guns supported the Chinese government in Tianamen Square, the guns supported the rise of the Nazis. That’s real Realpolitics.
The best we can do is provide a description of where we think things should be. We can provide a roadmap and try to get as many people to take the suggested path. We can educate the general population. But in the end, what do we get? Elected officials who go to Washington or our state capitols and do what? Cut the rate of increase of a handful of things? Monetize the debt, creating inflation? And what about the endless bureaucracies that in fact run the government, that in fact write the laws from the general guidelines the Congress passes?
Government is one of the greatest evils to have emerged out of man’s basic nature. Only whether it is a necessary one is up for debate.
Posted by: Troy Camplin | April 19, 2011 at 12:38 PM
The post originally appeared as a contribution to a discussion here.
Thank you Mr. Camplin and Monty.
Besides term limits, recall, a truthful media, and a major reduction of the size and power of government, what means can be conceived and installed to monitor and replace politicians and bureaucrats who demonstrate significant lack of virtue?