Way Out Dan
  • Blog
  • About
  • You Tube
  • Books
  • Store
  • Contact

My Ongoing Exploration of Earth

The Nature Of Government

7/5/2017

0 Comments

 
Government is the use of force. A government with no way to protect itself from other governments (foreign or domestic) cannot long exist. A government without a military or police force will not last long before being replaced by a government with both. Government may also pick up your trash and supply you with water, but not doing these things makes it no less of a government. Government is not just the collective expression of the people. It can be, and perhaps it should be, but a dictatorship is no less of a government.

Government is violent. This is true even when the proscribed punishments for breaking its laws are non-violent. The authorities may fine you, but refuse to pay the fine and they will order you to court. Refuse to show up, and the sheriff will bring you in. Refuse to cooperate with the sheriff, and then the inherent violence of government will show. This subtle threat exists behind every law. If it did not, there would be no incentive to follow the laws, and the only laws that would be followed would be those the people were going to follow anyways even if there were no law.
​
This is what most people forget when they call for new legislation: They are endorsing violence against their fellow citizens. They threaten their neighbors in order to get them to obey. Sometimes this is both justified and necessary when our neighbors are destructive, but most people never stop to ask themselves if the tradeoff is worth it. Which is worse? That some people ride without seatbelts or that we make people buckle up at gunpoint? That some people drink too much soda or that officers threaten to shut down businesses that sell it in cups larger than sixteen ounces? That someone might ignite a piece of cloth to make a point or that the state kidnaps and imprisons them for burning the flag? That some people waste time getting high or that we drag stoners into jail so they can waste time there? Does it really cost society so much to allow drug use that we are justified in criminalizing it? There are always tradeoffs. Remember this.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    My name is Dan. I am an author, artist, explorer, and contemplator of subjects large and small.

    Store
    Community
    Books

    Archives

    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    November 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    February 2020
    August 2019
    July 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017

    Categories

    All
    Adventures
    Book Reviews
    Discoveries
    Expressions
    Musings And Observations
    News
    Photographs
    Quotes

    RSS Feed

Live the Way Out Life. Find joy in the mundane and weirdness in the norm.
STORE
COMMUNITY
BOOKS
© COPYRIGHT 2017. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • Blog
  • About
  • You Tube
  • Books
  • Store
  • Contact