Intermarkets' Privacy Policy Support
Donate to Ace of Spades HQ! Recent Entries
Daily Tech News 4 November 2024
Sunday Overnight Open Thread (11/3/24) Gun Thread: First November Edition! Food Thread: Generic Thread [Insert Boiled Beef Here] First-World Problems... Are We In The Endgame Of The Ukraine Fiasco? Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, General Dynamics, And Boeing Hardest Hit! Sunday Morning Book Thread - 11-03-2024 ["Perfessor" Squirrel] Daily Tech News 3 November 2024 Saturday Overnight Open Thread (11/2/24) Saturday Night Movie Thread [moviegique]: The Bad and the Beautiful (Megalopolis, Joker 2 & more) Absent Friends
Bandersnatch 2024
GnuBreed 2024 Captain Hate 2023 moon_over_vermont 2023 westminsterdogshow 2023 Ann Wilson(Empire1) 2022 Dave In Texas 2022 Jesse in D.C. 2022 OregonMuse 2022 redc1c4 2021 Tami 2021 Chavez the Hugo 2020 Ibguy 2020 Rickl 2019 Joffen 2014 AoSHQ Writers Group
A site for members of the Horde to post their stories seeking beta readers, editing help, brainstorming, and story ideas. Also to share links to potential publishing outlets, writing help sites, and videos posting tips to get published.
Contact OrangeEnt for info:
maildrop62 at proton dot me Cutting The Cord And Email Security
Moron Meet-Ups
|
« College Football Satursday |
Main
| Open Thread: Guess What Is Killing You Now... [Y-not] »
October 11, 2014
Fundamental Concepts - Government is Theft [WeirdDave]Like most of you, I've watched with horror as our American society, culture and population gets dumbed down every year. Whether it's the inevitable result of the comfortable lives we live, said comfort made possible by the conservative principles that you and I wish to preserve, or the result of a Gramscian Long March Through the Institutions set in motion by the bastards from the Frankfurt School* isn't what I want to discuss in this essay. No, the topic of this essay is one of the fundamental realities of government that is absolutely foreign to 90% of the people out there, one that was taken as a given by the founding fathers. I sympathize with those of you in the let it burn camp, really I do, but the (usually) unspoken assumption of LIB is that we can rebuild after the burning an America based upon first principles. We might be able to do it (I have my doubts, can anyone give me a historical example of the total collapse of a society and culture that was followed by anything other than a totalitarian regime? Anyone? Bueller?), IF.....IF (and it's the biggest if in the world), we were dealing with a population that understood and believed in certain fundamental concepts that in previous generations were ingrained in the population, we might have a chance. They're not ingrained anymore. Do they even teach civics in school these days? There are a number of these concepts to discuss, I might make this a series, but the one that I want to focus on today is simple: Government is theft. It is often said in the liberal media that we conservatives hate and mistrust government (broadly true), and that we want no government at all (False, that would be the anarchists, a group that should be furthest right on the political spectrum but oddly, these days, seem to be mostly leftists**). What we want is a government that is limited to a narrowly defined role. Why do we want that? Many will ask this question. Government exists to make our lives better. Stupid haters! We want that because we realize that in order for government to function, it MUST take money from the populous to fund it's endeavors. We're perfectly willing to acquiesce to that reality, as long as what government is doing is strictly limited by law. Defense? Definitely. Police and courts? Yes. Taxes? Grudgingly. Regulate trade? Absolutely. And so on. As long as these functions of government are strictly defined and regulated, we're on board, but the basic principle is one of theft. The government takes (at the point of a gun. We're willing to accept this, but it is still done by force) some of our property in order to function. Where it all goes pear shaped is when government seeks to do things outside it's enumerated powers. Why? Why, that's the subject of this essay. As I said, government is theft. We are willing to allow them to take a small part of what we earn to fund the functions that we agree are necessary. When government goes outside those boundaries, however, it will continue to take and take and take, more and more and more, becoming a parasite vastly larger than it's host. It HAS to, just as you or I have to MAKE more money if we want to buy a new car, government has to TAKE more money if it wants to do more things. Think of it this way. Suppose you owned an apple cart. You sell apples on the street to support your family. Every day, the beat cop stops by and eats an apple. You don't exactly like this, but you're ok with it because the cops keeps robbers away with his presence. Soon, however, he brings everyone from the precinct down to enjoy your apples too. You hold your tongue because with all the cops around eating apples, no robber would dream of accosting you, and enough of the neighborhood folks buy apples that you can still support your family. You made the tacit agreement with the cop to give him apples in return for protection. Even with all the cops eating apples, that agreement is still being kept. Now suppose the cops start handing apples out to every passerby. Now nobody buys your apples and you go out of business. Until that happens, however, who objects? The cops? No, they are enjoying your apples. The passerbys? Ditto. No, only you object, and nobody except you and your now starving family even cares. Now extrapolate that across 330 million people and you begin to get the idea, and that's how government grows. It takes your apples and gives them to everyone, and while you don't like that, you're busy eating the pears it took from the cart across the street. Everybody becomes a passerby, benefiting from theft from others. Obviously, it cant last forever, soon there is nothing left to take, and everybody goes out of business. It's a Faustian bargain. All of this used to be generally understood. It's not anymore, and until and unless the majority of the population realize that we're all Faust, selling our souls for a few crumbs of bread (knowledge in Faust's case), we're irrevocably damned, like Faust. It's only by realizing this fundamental nature of government, and accepting it, that we can control it. If we forget this, then government becomes Santa Claus, supplying never ending gifts without cost. This will continue until it doesn't. What happens then? Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. -George Washington *Have I talked about Gramsci and the Farnkfort School? It seems I must have, it's a subject I'll go off on at a moment's notice (ask my wife), but I can't remember if I have or not. **The true political spectrum is another good topic. This garbage that fascists are right wing drives me nuts. | Recent Comments
JQ:
"Next sunny day, I will hang the Christmas lights.
..."
JQ: "We didn't get vibrant leaf colors this year-- no e ..." Alteria Pilgram: "Cuisinart versus Mr. Coffee. Cone filters versus f ..." Grumpy and Recalcitrant[/i][/b]: "@661/Alteria Pilgram: "[i]Meanwhile, Kamala had o ..." Pete Bog: "Today felt like a warning of winter’s impend ..." Skip : "Well past peak fall here ..." Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere [/i] [/b]: "[i] It's definitely Fall here, Wolfus! Rainy an ..." Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere [/i] [/b]: "[i]It was a close call this year but I survived ha ..." JQ: "It's definitely Fall here, Wolfus! Rainy and co ..." Puddleglum, cheer up for the worst is yet to come: "661: or The electoral process is so broken that ..." JQ: "President Trump had out three rallies on Sunday an ..." Launa Mize: "Very great post. I just stumbled upon your weblog ..." Recent Entries
Daily Tech News 4 November 2024
Sunday Overnight Open Thread (11/3/24) Gun Thread: First November Edition! Food Thread: Generic Thread [Insert Boiled Beef Here] First-World Problems... Are We In The Endgame Of The Ukraine Fiasco? Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, General Dynamics, And Boeing Hardest Hit! Sunday Morning Book Thread - 11-03-2024 ["Perfessor" Squirrel] Daily Tech News 3 November 2024 Saturday Overnight Open Thread (11/2/24) Saturday Night Movie Thread [moviegique]: The Bad and the Beautiful (Megalopolis, Joker 2 & more) Search
Polls! Polls! Polls!
Frequently Asked Questions
The (Almost) Complete Paul Anka Integrity Kick
Primary Document: The Audio
Paul Anka Haiku Contest Announcement Integrity SAT's: Entrance Exam for Paul Anka's Band AllahPundit's Paul Anka 45's Collection AnkaPundit: Paul Anka Takes Over the Site for a Weekend (Continues through to Monday's postings) George Bush Slices Don Rumsfeld Like an F*ckin' Hammer Top Top Tens
Democratic Forays into Erotica New Shows On Gore's DNC/MTV Network Nicknames for Potatoes, By People Who Really Hate Potatoes Star Wars Euphemisms for Self-Abuse Signs You're at an Iraqi "Wedding Party" Signs Your Clown Has Gone Bad Signs That You, Geroge Michael, Should Probably Just Give It Up Signs of Hip-Hop Influence on John Kerry NYT Headlines Spinning Bush's Jobs Boom Things People Are More Likely to Say Than "Did You Hear What Al Franken Said Yesterday?" Signs that Paul Krugman Has Lost His Frickin' Mind All-Time Best NBA Players, According to Senator Robert Byrd Other Bad Things About the Jews, According to the Koran Signs That David Letterman Just Doesn't Care Anymore Examples of Bob Kerrey's Insufferable Racial Jackassery Signs Andy Rooney Is Going Senile Other Judgments Dick Clarke Made About Condi Rice Based on Her Appearance Collective Names for Groups of People John Kerry's Other Vietnam Super-Pets Cool Things About the XM8 Assault Rifle Media-Approved Facts About the Democrat Spy Changes to Make Christianity More "Inclusive" Secret John Kerry Senatorial Accomplishments John Edwards Campaign Excuses John Kerry Pick-Up Lines Changes Liberal Senator George Michell Will Make at Disney Torments in Dog-Hell Greatest Hitjobs
The Ace of Spades HQ Sex-for-Money Skankathon A D&D Guide to the Democratic Candidates Margaret Cho: Just Not Funny More Margaret Cho Abuse Margaret Cho: Still Not Funny Iraqi Prisoner Claims He Was Raped... By Woman Wonkette Announces "Morning Zoo" Format John Kerry's "Plan" Causes Surrender of Moqtada al-Sadr's Militia World Muslim Leaders Apologize for Nick Berg's Beheading Michael Moore Goes on Lunchtime Manhattan Death-Spree Milestone: Oliver Willis Posts 400th "Fake News Article" Referencing Britney Spears Liberal Economists Rue a "New Decade of Greed" Artificial Insouciance: Maureen Dowd's Word Processor Revolts Against Her Numbing Imbecility Intelligence Officials Eye Blogs for Tips They Done Found Us Out, Cletus: Intrepid Internet Detective Figures Out Our Master Plan Shock: Josh Marshall Almost Mentions Sarin Discovery in Iraq Leather-Clad Biker Freaks Terrorize Australian Town When Clinton Was President, Torture Was Cool What Wonkette Means When She Explains What Tina Brown Means Wonkette's Stand-Up Act Wankette HQ Gay-Rumors Du Jour Here's What's Bugging Me: Goose and Slider My Own Micah Wright Style Confession of Dishonesty Outraged "Conservatives" React to the FMA An On-Line Impression of Dennis Miller Having Sex with a Kodiak Bear The Story the Rightwing Media Refuses to Report! Our Lunch with David "Glengarry Glen Ross" Mamet The House of Love: Paul Krugman A Michael Moore Mystery (TM) The Dowd-O-Matic! Liberal Consistency and Other Myths Kepler's Laws of Liberal Media Bias John Kerry-- The Splunge! Candidate "Divisive" Politics & "Attacks on Patriotism" (very long) The Donkey ("The Raven" parody) |