Guest Blogger Doug Kendall Gives a Reality Check

I constantly hear people say that they are afraid of the police, the IRS, what the President will do while in office, taxation and regulations will drive them out of business, that they will be sued out of business due to frivolous lawsuits, that they aren’t sure that they’re jumping through all the hoops that government requires just to be able to protect their families, that there may be a new military draft instituted, that they will die waiting nearly 10 years on average for the FDA to approve a treatment that may save their life, and so much more.

I hear national talk show hosts repeatedly state that “both [major] parties” have “sold us out,” or are leading us “down the road to Hell.” Even in ads for legal services, one highly rated host mentioned that you should use the legal services being advertised on their show “to protect yourself from government.”

Isn’t it time that we finally admit that government is not a good thing? If people are living in fear, and we have the largest prison population of any country on earth–even though this is supposedly the “Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave”–isn’t it time to admit that this was a mistake and work to abolish it?

I’m not talking about overthrowing the Establishment with violence and bloodshed. I am simply hoping that people will come to their senses and realize that we need to reverse course and peacefully deconstruct the source of our oppression.

I have heard some people say that we need government, because of human nature–but human nature is precisely why no human(s) should ever be able to forcibly control and rule over other humans, with armed armies of officers, agents and soldiers to back them up.

In human history, there has never been a limited, restrained government. Some governments have taken longer than others, but all have failed to remain limited or small. Why? Human nature.

Thomas Jefferson summed it up, quite well:

“Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then, be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the form of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question.” — Thomas Jefferson, 1st Inaugural Address, 1801

Too bad Jefferson didn’t follow his own wise words.

Humans will be humans; no one suddenly becomes a saint, simply by being elected to office. In fact, power corrupts, as the old saying goes—and all of the political scandals, corruption and lies constantly reported in the news should provide ample proof.

Politicians and government officials have divided the country and tricked the people into thinking that they are justified and correct in trying to control others, for some perceived “greater good.” Sorry, but there can be no “greater good” than freedom, and government tramples all over it.

Lysander Spooner once said:

“The principle that the majority have a right to rule the minority, practically resolves all government into a mere contest between two bodies of men, as to which of them shall be masters, and which of them slaves; a contest, that-however bloody–can, in the nature of things, never be finally closed, so long as man refuses to be a slave.”

Government officials steal from us (taxation), manipulate our currency and destroy our savings (Federal Reserve), transfer wealth from the commoners to the elite (bailouts), as well as tell us what we can say, what we can eat, where we can travel, what we can buy (and from whom), who we can marry, what we can wear, where we can build, where we can live, how we can work to feed our families, what we can read, how we can protect our families, and on and on, yet they simultaneously try to convince us that we’re free and that they are working to preserve our freedom.

Good grief, people; wake up!

Doug Kendall is the vocalist for the freedom rock band, DOWNCOUNT; a former political talk radio show host; a freelance writer; former Executive Director of the SC Libertarian Party (before waking up to the rigged game of politics) and is now an outspoken Voluntaryist. Visit his blog AnarchistPOV.wordpress.com to check out his thoughtful words.