Exclusive to STR
January 1, 2007
Perhaps no one institution receives more derision on a more consistent basis, and yet somehow manages to carry on virtually unabated. This stands as either a testament to its noble heroicism, or evidence of a kind of Luciferian immortality. It all depends, I suppose, on where you think mankind stands.
Either way, we ought to leave government alone.
True enough, as Plato observed, "Simply because you do not take an interest in politics, does not mean it won't take an interest in you." Government will not leave us alone. Still, we should leave it alone.
"But dammit," I hear you stammering, "I'm supposed to turn a blind eye to all the taxes I'm forced to pay!?!? When government agents commit a Waco or a Ruby Ridge, I'm supposed to turn the other cheek!?!? And you're telling me to just learn to live with the wars on drugs and terror, the PATRIOT and Military Commissions and John Warner Defense Authorization acts? To accept gun control and fiat currency and the UN and bans on trans-fat cooking oils?"
No, I didn't say you ought to accept any of those things. Quite the opposite, in fact. Nevertheless, we need to leave government alone.
How? By not voting, for starters. Never accept a government job, including military service. If you're young, don't register with Selective Service. Never accept government as a client. True, we're forced to "do business" with government in the form of taxes, but only pay when you absolutely must, and then only as little as possible at the last possible minute. Don't let taxes waste a lot of your time. Refuse to answer census forms. Throw them into the fireplace (you might as well get some free heat from them). Disregard all laws against "crimes" in which there is no victim wherever and whenever possible. In short, if there's no cop watching you, do it. Moreover, be prepared to defend yourself -- don't rely on any cop to do it for you (as if they could or would in the first place). Don't fly flags, wave banners, or in any way listen to politicians. It's pretty easy to understand where their heads are at and what they advocate. It hasn't changed since the dawn of man. Why continue paying attention any longer?
In short, happiness and meaningful human existence can only exist when people are engaged in activities which are either productive or recreational -- and under optimum circumstances, both. Government and its bureaucrats are in all cases the active antithesis of this. Which is why we must ever minimize, and ideally eliminate altogether, our contact and connections with them. We must shun them, isolate and ostracize them. Give them the cold shoulder and not afford them shelter within the fold of society. Perhaps ultimately there won't be that many of them left. And the ones remaining will get tired of fighting, only to be left out in the rain. Then, finally, our lives and our property will indeed be ours, and the disease known as Government will have been cured and stomped out.
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