"That government is best which governs least"

--Thomas Paine

"And that government which governs least governs not at all."

--Henry David Thoreau

I put this post under the category of "Effective government," but this begs the question (to my mind, at least): Do I want government to be effective?

Government has, since its inception, been force. Taxation is merely institutionalized theft. "Pay me or I'll either throw you in prison or kill you, which ever I feel like." In return, the extorted possibly get some of the money back in the form of inefficient, very bureaucratic 'public services.'

Some (if not most) of the bloggers here will disagree with this assessment, saying that the taxes are actually payment for services, such as police, fire department, judicial system, etc. and part of a greater 'social contract' that one must pay, whether one wants the services or not.

In ye alden dayes, those who decided to opt out of the system were known as 'outlaws' (or wolf-heads), as they were outside the law, neither protected nor under judicial (or social) authority. The downside, of course, was that they could be killed in the streets without legal recourse for the bereft outlaw gang.

Unlike ancient Saxon, Nordic, Germanic, and Icelandic law, modern Statist legal theory attributes government to location and the will of the majority, not the individualistic ideals this Union was supposedly founded upon. I, as a property owner within certain arbitrary borders, am forced to 'pay' for services (cervices?) I may neither want nor need. At gunpoint, I might add.

And it is the weapon that turns the thought. Taxation is nothing but coercion and theft by rulers I may (or definitely) not agree with in any capacity, who may enact laws and use their dogs, the police force (Barricade was correct in having "To Punish and Enslave" on his body), to coerce me into obeying their wills, whether I object on moral grounds, political, or any other basis one may have for objecting to political action.

From its use of force to acheive its ends, and the necessity of theft to continue its existance, we can determine that "effective" government is that which is most efficient in stealing labor from those under its fist to turn to the use of the overlords, who may be the majority, as theoretically in the American empire; or blatently of the minority, as in the Soviet Union and other socialist fiefdoms.

Perhaps I'm paranoid, seeing every misplaced twig as a threat to my existance; perhaps you're a complacent and docile sheep being prepared for the slaughter. Either way, the fact remains that you are subject to a government that you cannot opt out of, except by violent revolution or armed but nonviolent resistance (if the coppers shoot first, though, it's open season).

We can reclaim our country and our government. Do not give up your liberty lightly, and do not work to take liberty from others.

P.S. My answer to the question I posed is "No."

Share this post on:

 •    •    •    •    •