CHALLENGING YOUR BELIEFS

(copyright DJW 1997)

Becoming a Libertarian involves a few lightbulbs going off above one's head. They usually do not all go off all at once, but one at a time over a number of years, after much reflection, study and fact finding, unfortunately.( we wish it were easier.) Here are a few of the major hurdles that have to be jumped on the way. Here's hoping they speed up your enlightenment!

1.GOVERNMENT WORKS.

Despite all of governments failure in every area, from health care, welfare, education, the environment, drugs, ad infinitum, people continue to believe that we just need more of the "right" laws, enacted by the right people, who will unselfishly act in everyone’s interest but their own. Any failure is seen as a confirmation that what is required is still more spending, and more government personnel and agencies, and more laws they can act upon. (see also "Modern thoughts" ) Once it is suspected that government doesn't in fact work (outside its intended functions) then questioning the following two beliefs is not so hard to do.

2. GOVERNMENT IS COMPASSIONATE.

" Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force." George Washington.

The belief that government is a compassionate organization is very widespread. But the reason that governments are instituted among men is because certain individuals in society refuse to trade with others for goods and services, choosing instead to rob, cheat and steal . A government therefor has the power of ultimate force so that it can protect individuals and their property from theft and destruction by these people. The only thing that makes the government different from every private institution is that it has this legal monopoly on the power of ultimate force. The Mafia may use force in its operations but it is illegal force. A large company however, (unless it influences government policy in some way,) cannot force anyone to pay its prices for its products and services, but must rely on people buying the product/service because they believe it is better than, or more essential than, other products/ services. The government, on the other hand, has the ultimate, society approved use of force to protect people and their property from the Mafia. This is exactly the type of thing that government power is designed to do. But this force can only have a legitimate use in that one area. It is a tool designed for one purpose only. One would never try to spank a baby with a chain - saw for instance or kill an ant with a nuclear bomb, but that somewhat parallels what happens when government is used outside of its specifically designated function. Today, everything that government does, whether it is handing out food stamps, welfare, education, or anything else, has men with guns and prisons (the power of ultimate legal force) forcing your compliance with its programs. The force may not be readily apparant; if you disobey tax demands for instance, you at first only receive nasty letters. But if you continue to refuse to pay, eventually men with guns will take you to jail or shoot you if you refuse to go along with them. This power of ultimate force is behind every government action no matter how small or innocent it may appear at first glance - its the reason we pay our taxes, wear seatbelts etc. etc. But it is always there, nonetheless. It is not "compassionate." As Stalin ( or was it Lenin?) said, "political power grows out of the barrel of a gun." This is the true nature of government, the mailed fist inside the velvet glove. THE BIG QUESTION that Libertarians are asking society is this: now that we have created this brutal, clumsy, but necessary power of ultimate legal force, does it work in any of these areas that everyone believes it should interfere, outside of its original intended function, based on the evidence ? Aren't we just attempting to solve society's problems through the application of evermore force? Where has this worked so far?

3. GOVERNMENTS CAN CREATE WEALTH AND PROSPERITY BY SPENDING OUR MONEY WHEN WE WOULDN'T CHOOSE TO.(THE BROKEN WINDOW THEORY)

Most people believe that government can create wealth, stimulate the economy etc. by spending taxpayers money for them. Libertarians believe that the only way that a government can create wealth and prosperity and an increased standard of living for everyone is by ensuring peaceful cooperation between individuals, and protecting their property(upholding individual property rights) and nothing else. In otherwords, sticking to its original intended function and staying the hell out out of everything else ! In Savannah, a classic example is the Trade and Maritime Center. This is a perfect example of what has been called “the broken window theory.” (see link) Another illustration of the same problem : it's as if I were a robber and I stole all your money from your house (assuming you have a lot, of course,) and then hired contractors to build me a house on Skidaway Island. To parallel what occurs in the media with government projects like the Trade Center, it would be reported in the media only from the time building my new house commenced. Contractors would be reported as hiring new workers and it would be reported how all these new jobs had been created, while the fact that the money had been confiscated and that you could no longer spend it would be completely ignored. The message of the badly reported news story would be that my action has stimulated the economy by creating new jobs! This is basically the way the Trade Center project ( and many others) is represented by press and politicians alike. The question is never raised - could you not have created jobs if you had been able to prevent the theft and had spent or invested the money in ways you wanted to that would benefit both you and the people and places you chose to spend it? Admittedly, this is a very difficult concept for many people, schooled in government approved economics 101, to grasp. Unfortunately, its probably an essential principle for becoming a Libertarian.( see also Link "What is Seen and What is not Seen")