When humans are born, they are helpless. They are forced to depend on others for survival. Infants quickly learn who their parents are as these are the people who will feed and protect them. They may come to know an extended family, brothers and sisters, grandparents, uncles and aunts, for the same reason. As the child grows, he learns to interact with these people. He learns to assert himself. He begins to understand that he can interact with people voluntarily, or he can be forced to interact with them. He also learns that people can interact with him voluntarily, or he can force himself upon them. He learns the different methods, subtle and overt, to control himself and others as he grows to adulthood. These are skills he will use for the rest of his life.
As adults we are often called upon to interact with each other. We usually do this in what we think is a voluntary manner. We go to work so that we may collect paychecks. We do business with each other and exchange goods and services for money or for other goods and services. We play games with each other, or talk to each other, or otherwise just hang out with each other so that we can enjoy being in the company of other humans. Some people, however, interact with others on a different level. These people force themselves on others. These are the kind of people who want something from you without giving you anything in return. Some will point a gun at you and take your money. Some may try to blackmail you. Some will simply get in your face and not leave you alone when asked to. Some may try to con you. Still others are far more subtle. They'll try to control your life through fear and intimidation, and some people will never even recognize what is going on. These are the kind of people we as a society want to be protected from. These people are the control freaks of the world, and many of them seem to become politicians.
I believe most people are basically good. They seem to understand on an instinctual level that we should treat each other with respect and dignity. They do business together honestly for the most part. So it is somewhat interesting that corruption is so rampant in politics, especially at the highest levels. Why is it we seem to accept the innate criminality of our so called leaders? Why do they get away with doing things anyone else would be thrown in prison for doing? Why can they breach the public trust and get away with it? The answer is power. Power corrupts. But more than that, power creates an illusion of legitimacy to enable those that wield it to force their will upon others. Government is power and force. Its icy fingers wrap themselves around every thread in one's life and use threats to pull the threads and coerce one into behaving as they would like. In this way one's will is slowly eroded.
When one's will is eroded, they become easier to mold. The state makes one compliant by constantly pounding at him with propaganda and the illusion of "normal behavior." It appears to us all that we are going about our lives as free individuals interacting with each other voluntarily when under the surface there is an almost imperceptible finger of force prodding us to behave in ways we would normally question. For instance, there are merchants and employers acting as collection agents for the federal and various state governments, without getting paid for their services. There are people showing their papers to strangers for no particular reason other than these strangers wear uniforms and carry guns. There are those who spy on their fellow citizens for the government because they are forced to. These are people who are forced to do these things under the auspices of law. They do these things not because they are morally right or because they have voluntarily decided these things needed to be done, they do these things because if they don't they run the risk of being kidnapped by armed agents of the state and imprisoned. They do these things because if they don't they will be forced to give a greater percentage of their wealth than they would have otherwise. This is no way to interact with others. It is morally wrong to force one's will upon another.
There are many wars being fought in this world today. There's a war against drugs. There's a war against terror. There's a war against young men having consensual sex with young women if that young woman is under 18. Soon, there might be a war against those who think for themselves as the various alphabet agencies of these United States continue to gather information on all of us and may just decide it doesn't like dissenters roaming about freely. These are wars against people, wars that have ruined countless lives. We have gone a long way down this road and the wars have become bloated and costly. The time has come for us to re-examine the way we operate. Wouldn't it be better to let people run their own lives and decide for themselves where to spend their money? There has to be a better, more innovative way to handle personal interactions that have gone wrong than through the federal government. The government has shown time and time again that it is inefficient, unfair for the most part, and not looking out for the best interests of the people. It's time to take the power from it and vest that power back in the people. It's time for us to take back our freedoms and liberty and live in the paradigm of personal responsibility and self reliance. We can lead freer, healthier, happier lives with less government involvement. We can prove to all that people can interact with each other on a voluntary basis and once again become the envy of the world. In this way we will all be richer and the world will be a safer, more productive place.
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