Appliance Repair Wisdom for the Ages

Wednesday, April 02, 2003

Government is not reason, it is not eloquence—it is a force! Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master; never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action.
-- attributed to George Washington (possibly apocryphal but doesn't matter, it's still a good quote)

Government, in its last analysis, is organized force.
-- Woodrow Wilson

Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one. Government, like dress, is the badge of lost innocence...
-- Thomas Paine, Common Sense, (1776), Chap. 1.

Fox News just showed another "I Hate America" parade in some arm-pit American city. You know the ones: all those pious souls supposedly protesting the war in Iraq. Earlier, I saw a bunch of talking heads condemning the protestors and talking about how great the war is going. But did you know that all this is just a good, old-fashioned family feud? Yep, both sides are just two different brands of liberals: neo-conservatives (neo-cons) and socialists.

Neo-cons parade under the party label of Republican and are advocates of global Big Brother. They believe it's America's duty to play globocop and are the new-found buddies of the military-industrial complex. Socialists, parading under the party label of Democrat, are the same old bed-wetting liberals who don't like or understand the military but believe that the money you earn belongs to the government (which I'll call "gubmint" because it's more fun) to use on all sorts of bizarre social programs. Both want Big Gubmint to implement their agendas. They both agree that gubmint force is a good thing, but they disagree on how best to apply that force. Their disagreements are not ideological but tactical. As much as they bicker and argue with each other, they are actually two sides of the same coin--the gubmint's coin.

There is another coin to choose and that is the coin of Liberty or self-gubmint (whoa! what a concept!). Let me compare and contrast the fundamentally divergent views of gubmint between the neo-con and socialist advocates of Big Gubmint on the one hand, to the Samurai's enlightened view of self-gubmint.

Since the Samurai is omniscient (and he knows it), he sees the essential paradox of gubmint as a voracious consumer of the very liberties it is meant to secure. Gubmint is fundamentally evil but necessary because of our brutish nature. The necessity of gubmint is just another sign that we live in a broken world, it's "the badge of lost innocence." Nevertheless, gubmint is a beast that must be continually hamstrung.

Neo-cons (Republicans) see gubmint as fundamentally good, provided it does the things they want it to, like beating up other gubmints that they view as bad. This satisfies their sense of moral outrage and makes them feel good. Ideologically, they are kissing cousins with socialists (Democrats) who also see gubmint as fundamentally good, provided it does nice liberal things like steal from "the rich" and give to "the poor." This satisfies their sense of moral outrage (which they call "social justice") and makes socialists feel good.

In summary:

The Samurai: Gubmint bad

Neo-cons and socialists: Gubmint good

So, in the enlightened view of the Samurai, fighting a war against a particular gubmint so that a different gubmint can be installed is just the same old treadmill. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. If it's not one war, it's another. There's no end to the number of reasons, all very high and mighty sounding, that gubmints can conjure up to justify going to war. Gubmints fight wars 'cause that's what gubmints do and that's what they've always done. The Samurai knows better than to get sucked into their crap...and now you do, too.

Now that you've been enlightened on the ways of Liberty, share the light: go ye forth and make disciples of all nations. And stop being a butt-boy for the gubmint.

Live Free or Die!

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