There have always been certain times of year, when the season is changing and I can just smell it in the air.  The start of October, for example, smells like candy, pumpkins, and Halloween.  In April, as the snow here in New England has just finished melting and the last remnants of which are huge dirty mounds of salty snow in the parking lots of Wal-Mart, I can smell baseball.  That must be the same feeling that politicians, pundits, and the media get around this time of year.  It is election time again, when the faithful voters fulfill their "civic duty" and choose their masters.  A magical time of year for Republicans and Democrats, and one that is probably better than Christmas for most.  You see, the elves have been busy all year long making toys and goodies, and now is their time to elect Santa Claus.  Santa Claus will in turn visit all of his friends and special interest groups and redistribute those toys to them.  The elves will, in turn, be told to work harder, because baby children will die if not enough toys are made.

Maybe with age the magic of the season has just been lost on me.  It used to be nice, you know, believing. But you reach a certain age and either one of the older boys tells you the secret or you figure it out for yourself: The state is make-believe.  It doesn't exist to help you; it exists to extort from you.  It doesn't protect you; it makes your life more dangerous.  It doesn't lend order to society; it destroys the wishes of millions of individuals working voluntarily together and replaces them with . . . the Big Dig.  Some people just close their eyes, ears, and brains and keep believing.  Others recognize the truth but continue to believe in the "spirit" of the season.

I showed my spirit of the season to the local Democrat running for some office (something claiming to be a representative of others I think) as she was waving to cars in the town center.  She must have been disappointed that I don't share in her festive nature.  My gesture (you can use your imagination) might not result in any more liberty for anyone, but it was at least as powerful as any vote I can make.

You don't really become too cynical about the season when you first learn the truth.  It takes a while.  You think that if you figured the whole thing out, that surely everyone else will too.  It is a childish fiction, unfit for adults adjusting themselves to meet the needs of existing in the real world.  Imaginary friends and pretend enemies are fine for a while, but it is a phase everyone should eventually outgrow.  It is only when you see that they are not outgrowing it, that they still cling to the "spirit" of the season, that you become cynical.  You can see the big purple elephant in the living room: Why can't they?  In truth, the state is the biggest illusion, the most masterful feat of trickery, that has ever happened.  Imagine that you were raised in a parallel universe with no such thing as government as we know it, and you observed our society.  How ridiculous would it look?  Half the people in the country pull various levers on a certain day, and based on this, a few hundred people are chosen that enforce their arbitrary wills on everyone else with the threat of violence.  I imagine watching this from space is like watching "Evil Dead" over and over again; you know the cabin's a bad idea, everyone knows it is, so just turn around.  When evil souls start possessing people, that should really be a tip off. 

After a while, you make excuses like "people aren't ready for liberty."  Maybe some day in the future something will click, and the government will be shed off like an old scab.  Long term optimism, short term pessimism.

I find particularly amusing the concept that the Constitution is a document that properly applies to anyone.  The Constitution was "officially" in force, when, according to Article Seven, nine states ratified it.  So basically, the Constitution is in force because the Constitution says it's in force.  Maybe I can use this logic in my own contracts.  Everyone in the world owes me a thousand dollars if the condition is met that my contract is approved by a person living in each country.  I think I'll be able to buy one person's vote from each country.  Surely no one would have to sign or actually agree to a document to be governed by it.

Everyone knows that the Constitution has long been dead.  It is the spirit of the Constitution that we are really left with today.  It is the spirit of government, that some people may threaten and use violence on the rest of us to do their will, while claiming it's really in our best interest.  It is the spirit of power, that no matter how limited it seems at first, will keep growing and growing.  It is the spirit of war, that the ability to send young men off to die in a foreign land is legitimate.  This is the legacy of the Constitution, and it is the spirit of the season.  Please excuse me if I don't put up any decorations.    

October 30, 2002