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November 12, 2013
The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intent
I've been reading some of the Road to Serfdom. It seems to me that the nature of government is to grow into a totalitarian state. So, everyone in the world that is ruled by any type of government has a oak tree growing inside their greenhouse, they just don't realize it yet. The problem is that the state routinely adversely impacts the individual citizen in a manner which is in no one's best interest, save the government. The response to this is seldom what it should be. What it should be is someone is fired, or a branch of government is disbanded, or there's a revolution with the autocrats swinging from the lamp-posts.
The reasons that we don't get this optimal response are numerous.
1) People tend to give the government the benefit of the doubt, when they shouldn't. Like, say, if they made everyone wear seal-skin class uniforms because that's what the eskimos wear in Alaska. People would say "well, they had to come up with a national uniform, and we can't discriminate against the Inuits...)
2) It's easier to just ignore it and move on. It's easier to just do nothing. To pay the fine. To do the time. Than to really rise up and fix the faulty system.
3) The individual is always at a disadvantage fighting against the machines of government
What is needed is an anti-governmental mechanism which over-reacts in a non-linear manner to the governmental impulse which violated the citizens' sovereignty.
At this point, we clearly don't have any such mechanism in place. The mechanisms we theoretically have in place at this point are:
1) The Free Press - In theory, the Free Press is an integral part of this mechanism, but because they're all shilling of the left, they're actually making the situation much worse. Oddly, the press isn't concerned with doing objective reporting about the current state of the union. They're government propaganda machines masquerading as neutral, unbiased reporters, which is so dangerous it calls into question the very concept of a free press. Would it not be better to have a government propaganda agency which everyone knew to be a shill for the government?
2) The Opposition Party - The Republicans are possibly at their weakest position in the history of the country, which is sad because we need them now, more than ever. The opposition(Republican) party, sadly, clearly isn't capable of doing anything. They're racing from conspiracy to coverup to bungled operation so quickly that they can't begin to bring anything into focus. They've juggling more scandals than any other government in the history of the country, but they can't seem to focus on any one issue to force it to a conclusion. Instead, they jump from Gunwalking, Benghazi, IRS, DOJ, NSA, to ObamaCare. Obamacare will cause the healthcare system in the United States to unravel. And it's wildly unpopular. And the Republicans have no idea how to stop it. No one wants it. And somehow, the Republicans can't figure out how to stop it. Their current plan is to focus on how ineffective the website is that is used to enroll people into the program. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Kill it. Shut it down.
So, the question becomes, what non-linear mechanism do we have at our disposal to stop this unprecedented reach for power by the Executive branch?
The Cops in the Canyon
The cops rule the canyon where I live. And, maybe when you're young, you think how good it is to see that the cops are cracking the whip and keeping people in line for breaking the law. But then, as you grow older, and watch them more closely, you see that they're a much bigger threat to us than anyone speeding through the canyon.
Now, never mind that the speed limit is absurdly low. Never mind that it's a divided median and you couldn't cross into the oncoming traffic if you tried. You think that the police are doing some sort of service, or they wouldn't be there, right? You assume that the people they're pulling over are breaking the law, and getting their just desserts. But sadly, it's not so simple.
The areas they are policing are not even in the town of Morrison. Or, more accurately, the Town of Morrison expanded their jurisdiction to include this short stretch of US 285. So, it's not like these people were speeding through their town. It's more like the town expanded to include the canyon so they could exercise their jurisdiction in a extrajudicial manner.
And now, we drive ever-so-slowly past them, timid as mice. Watching the police. Our speedometers. Praying we don't get stopped. Is this how free men are supposed to live? Does this feel like freedom to you?
Now, my sister loves this. Her theory is that, lets basically call in an airstrike on our own base, right? "Nuke the gay whales for Jesus" type of strategy. And, if the police are out there stopping and arresting people, she's all the better for it. Sadly, that's not the case.
But, if that were really true, then why not just set up a check-point and stop everyone that passes through? The sad thing is that this is what they do in Russia, and we laughed at them because their people had no rights. We were protected by the 4th Amendment against this grotesque violation of our rights. But not any more.
Lets take the case of the cops in the canyon. It is demonstrable that they are not there to reduce accidents. How can we be sure, because at the times when the canyon is most treacherous...at the times when people are most likely to be involved in accidents, the police are nowhere to be found. That's right. They don't write tickets in the rain. They don't write tickets in the snow. They go back to their little police station where it's warm and dry and they eat donuts. Think I'm lying? Go see for yourself.
The statistics are unequivocal. Putting police on the shoulder of the road causes more accidents. Same as red light cameras. They say they're there for our safety, but the facts say otherwise. The facts suggest that their presence actually causes more accidents.
The real reason the cops are in the canyon is to milk us.
The Morrison Police Department now has a slick black fleet of "fleece-mobiles" that are available to basically shake down the innocent people driving near the town of Morrison on C-470 and US-285. Anyone can see that this is the case. But nothing is done. We're left to fall into the maw of this illegal scam to shake-down citizens driving through their jurisdiction.
And no one says a word? No one speaks up? Why is this?
Posted by Rob Kiser on November 12, 2013 at 12:54 PM
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