…. Each and every person who advocates “government” in any form – whether liberal, conservative, moderate, independent, communist, fascist, constitutionalist, or any other flavor – believes that representatives of “authority” should, on a large scale, commit acts which, if done by anyone else, would be widely recognized as unjust and immoral. All statists believe that the people who make up “government” have an exemption from basic human morality, and not only may do things which others have no right to do, but should and must do such things, for the (supposed) good of society. The type and degree of aggression varies, but all statists advocate aggression.
In statist mythology, the political “left wing” and the political “right wing” are opposites. In reality, they are two sides of the same coin, the difference lies only in what the different voters hope those in power will do with that power. But in practice, “left” and “right” politicians all engage in wealth redistribution, war-mongering, centralized control of commerce, and numerous coercive restrictions upon the behavior of their subjects. As “right-wing” and “left-wing” states approach complete power, they become utterly indistinguishable from each other. Hitler’s supposedly “far right” regime and Stalin’s supposedly “far left” regime were virtually identical. Whatever the original stated purpose of either, the end result was complete power and control for the politicians, and complete helplessness and enslavement of everyone else. Being allowed to choose between the political “left” and the political “right” provides the people with exactly as much power and freedom as allowing them to choose between death by hanging and death by firing squad. And adding an independent third party only adds the option of death by electrocution, As long as the people bicker only about which gang should enslave everyone (also known as “democracy”), the people will remain enslaved.
Ironically, statists of all political stripes lament the influence that “lobbyists” and “special interests” have over politicians, ignoring the fact that every voter is a special interest, and every campaign contributor is a lobbyist. Once people accept the premise that “government” has the right to forcibly micromanage society, perpetual competition between groups, each throwing money and favors at politicians to by to get their way, is inevitable. It is silly to advocate authoritarian control (”government”) only to then complain about the unavoidable effect of authoritarian control: people trying to buy influence. Politicians can be bought only because they have the power to sell, and they have the power to sell only because people believe in “government.” State power will always be used to serve one person’s agenda at the expensive of another (how else could coercion be used?), making the idea of “government corruption” redundant. Every statist wants “government” to forcibly impose his will on others, but dubs it “corruption” if someone else’s agenda wins out, the hypocrisy is astounding.
Likewise, conservative pundits, on talk radio and elsewhere, sanctimoniously chastise liberals for advocating the forced redistribution of wealth, while the pundits do exactly the same thing for slightly different purposes. To criticize welfare while supporting corporate subsidies, or to criticize attempts to legislate “fairness” while supporting the “war on drugs,” or to criticize liberal plans to nationalize industry while supporting a giant, forcibly funded “government” military (which amounts to rationalizing the protection industry) shows a complete absence of philosophical principles. At the same time, it is equally hypocritical for liberals to righteously condemn “right-wing” warmongering while supporting a giant, intrusive, vicious extortion racket (”taxation”), or to complain about the “intolerance” of the “right” while advocating all manner of authoritarian behavioral controls. In truth, there is NO real difference between the philosophical principles of one statist and another, because they both accept the premise that a ruling class, with the right to control and rob the population, is necessary and legitimate. The only argument after that is not one of principle, but simply a debate over how the loot should be distributed and what choices should be forced upon the peasants. There is no such thing as a tolerant liberal or a tolerant conservative because not one of them tolerates people spending their own money and controlling their own lives.
It is true that the degree of evil and the types of immoral aggression advocated vary based upon the different styles of statism, Constitutionalists, for example, advocate relatively low levels of robbery and extortion (”taxation”) and advocate that only certain, limited activities and behaviors should be controlled via threats and coercion (’regulation”). But every power which any constitution pretends to grant to any legislature is a power not possessed by mere mortal individuals. Who would bother writing into a constitution a line pretending to delegate to certain people a right already possessed by everyone else? All such “grants of power,” and any document purporting to create a “government” or empower any “legislature” to do anything, are attempts to issue a license to commit evil. However, as should be patently self-evident, no person or group of people – regardless of what documents they create or rituals they perform – can grant to someone else moral permission to commit evil. And putting supposed “limits” on such permission does not make it any more sane or legitimate. In short, to advocate “government” is always to advocate evil.
Liberals and conservatives both insist that someone needs to be “in charge,” because that is the reality they were raised in: the only thing required of them was that they remain obedient to authority. From that training, they have little or no idea what to do if left to their own devices, if no one is telling them what to do. So they refuse to grow up, and try to hallucinate into existence a superhuman “authority.” Paradoxically, even though there is no earthly species above human beings, they seek to fabricate this superhuman entity out of nothing but human beings, and then try to bestow upon it superhuman qualities, rights and virtues.
The entire concept is delusional, but it is shared by the vast majority of people the world over, who refuse to accept the fact that there is no shortcut to determining right and wrong, that there is no magic trick which will make truth and justice automatically prevail, that there is no “system” that can guarantee safety or fairness, and that everyday mortal human beings, with all of their deficiencies and shortcomings, are the best and only hope for civilization. There is no tooth fairy, or Santa Claus, or magical entity called “government,” which can make an immoral species behave morally, or make a group of imperfect people function perfectly. And the belief in such an entity, rather than being merely pointless and ineffective, drastically increases the overall stupidity, conflict, injustice, intolerance, violence, oppression and murder in human society. Nonetheless, most of those indoctrinated into the worship of “government” would rather cling to their familiar, horribly destructive, heinously evil, profoundly anti-human superstitions than grow up and accept the fact that there is no one above them, that there is no giant mommy or daddy to save the day that they are at the top, and that each of them is personally responsible for deciding what he should do and then doing it. Sadly, they would rather suffer the hell of perpetual war and total enslavement than face the uncertainty and responsibility that comes with freedom.
The belief in “authority” negates and overrides nearly all of the positive effects of religious and moral beliefs. What most people call their “religion” is empty window-dressing, and what most people tout as their moral virtue is irrelevant, as long as they believe in the myth of “authority.” Christians, for example, are taught things such as “If someone strikes you, turn the other cheek,” “Love your neighbor” (and even “Love your enemy”) and “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Yet every so-called Christian who believes in “government” constantly forsakes these principles, advocating constant aggression against everyone – friend and enemy, neighbor and stranger – via the cult of “government.” To put on a show of being pious, religious, compassionate, loving and virtuous, while “voting” for a gang that promises to use violence to control the actions of everyone you know, is the height of hypocrisy. To refrain from personally robbing one’s neighbor, while pushing for someone else to do it, is both cowardly and hypocritical. Yet almost every Christian (and every member of every other religion) does such things on a regular basis, by way of “political” advocacy.
As mentioned before, faith in “government” is a purely religious belief. As such, the vast majority of those who wear the label “atheist” are not actually atheists, because they believe in the god called “government.” They do not recognize it as a religious belief, of course, but their belief in that ethereal, superhuman savior of mankind (”authority”) is as deep and faith-based as any other religious belief. ….
Originally Posted by DavidRam
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