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The Folly of Trusting Government by Rick Gee When
the Bush administration finally ordered military strikes against Taliban
positions within Afghanistan, the cable news networks went into 24-hour
“America Strikes Back” coverage. Very soon, however, coverage of the war was
largely supplanted by constant discussion of the new domestic terror threat:
anthrax. Targets included supermarket tabloid offices, NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw, Senator Tom Daschle, House office buildings, the Supreme Court and other government locations. Some hawkish pundits and even some of our representatives on Capitol Hill rushed to judgment that Osama bin Laden or Sadaam Hussein was responsible. Certainly these warmongers were hoping they could pin it on Sadaam so as to justify another invasion of Iraq. But if the terrorists hate us for our freedom and democracy, as we have constantly been told to believe, why were all the recipients of the deadly substance in the government and media? Later speculation centered on a domestic perpetrator. The left-leaning mainstream media began to hypothesize that right-wing, anti-government wackos were the likely culprits. In reality, no one really knows. What we do know is that those in government reacted, predictably, by rushing to protect themselves at all costs. Never mind that the contaminated letters had to be processed at area post offices; two postal workers died from anthrax, perhaps because of a delay in testing and treating USPS mail handlers. In a crisis of this nature, those in power act first to save themselves, everyone else be damned. Imagine for a moment that you are the president of a private security firm entrusted to protect a large jewelry store and its employees. Imagine if criminals (terrorists) were successful in breaking into the store, stealing every last bauble and killing all the employees and customers. Would you expect to remain the security company for this jewelry store for even one more day? Even advocates of small government concede that one of government’s legitimate powers is to protect its citizens. But on September 11, the government failed miserably to protect us from a horrific act of terrorism. The military couldn’t even prevent an attack on its own headquarters as a jetliner smashed into the Pentagon. And yet government, far from losing the job of security, actually expands its power in response. Legislators and pro-government commentators clamored for all airport baggage handlers and screeners to become federal employees since the private security firms failed in their jobs. The pundits and Washington power grabbers conveniently ignore the fact that these firms were already under intense regulations and oversight from the FAA. Will you really feel safer knowing that baggage screeners are the same people who make you wait two hours at the DMV; the same people who treat you with disdain at the post office; the same people that are almost impossible to fire regardless of how rude and incompetent they may be? President Bush opposes this particular feature of an airline security bill, but his reasons are more political than practical: he doesn’t want to hand a victory to the Democrats and the powerful union lobby. Within a day or two of 9/11, Attorney General John Ashcroft, who was appointed to the post only after failing to garner more votes than a dead man in the Missouri Senate race, began immediately to appeal to the American people and the Congress for a sweeping anti-terrorism bill. Dubbed “The Patriot Act,” the legislation sailed through a compliant Congress. It gives the government vast new police powers and makes a mockery of the Constitution. Unfortunately, a majority of Americans seems all too willing to trade the liberties that were fought so fervently for by the colonists for a false sense of security. The likelihood that this new law will prevent terrorism is almost nonexistent. The chance that the new powers taken by government will result in the advancement of a police state, wherein innocent citizens will be scrutinized and harassed, is a near certainty. As for the war effort, how can we be expected to believe that our government, which was unable to capture terrorists running around in plain sight within our own country, will be able to capture bin Laden in his maze of caves and tunnels in a godforsaken wasteland half-way around the world? The military is succeeding in one regard: killing scores of innocent civilians. Far from ridding the world of terrorism, these actions will only increase the resentment of American Imperialism. The true goal of the government and military seems to be extending global hegemony. Since we can’t count on the government to protect us, what are we to do? Perhaps we should adopt the spirit of our forefathers: rugged individualism. Since the government, i.e. the police, cannot be everywhere at once, consider protecting yourself by acquiring a handgun and learning how to handle it properly and safely. It’s the best way to protect yourself, your home and your family from those with criminal intentions. To protect yourself away from home, apply for a permit to legally carry a concealed weapon. As for anthrax and other mail borne pathogens, boycott the United States Postal Service. Use UPS or FedEx for sending and receiving packages. Use email in place of letters. Do all your banking and bill paying online. Throw out all unsolicited mail (who needs another credit card anyway?). In short, learn to rely on yourself rather than the government for protection and security. Engage in commerce that will assure these ends. Insist that your representatives in Washington respect the Constitution and the individual rights guaranteed therein. Trusting the government to protect you is like trusting the fox to guard the henhouse. The more we give them the power to do so, the worse job they will do. Reject the notion that unmitigated failure warrants a virtually unlimited seizure of more power. Such ever-expanding power will never protect you and will always come at the expense of your liberty. * * * * * This column originally appeared in the November 2001 issue of The Valley News. November 16, 2001 Rick
Gee [send him mail] resides in
paradise, also known as Santa Fe, New Mexico. He writes about liberty, sports,
film and other topics for The Valley
News. In addition to being a Root
Striker, he is a columnist at anti-state.com
and a commentator at LewRockwell.com. |