By Matthew Hayward
Most Americans suffer from a conditioned physiological state similar to those with Stockholm syndrome (“a psychological phenomenon in which hostages express empathy and sympathy and have positive feelings toward their captors, sometimes to the point of defending them.”). But in this case, the government is the perpetrator that is intermittently harassing, abusing its power, intimidating, threatening, stealing from people and sending children to foreign countries to kill and die for perverse incentives. We are bought off with social security, food stamps, Medicare and other forms of financial aid. A strong emotional bond builds, one of dependency, powerlessness and a lack of skills, abilities and the rights to succeed.
As the coming generations are facing the real possibility of debt slavery, those who are receiving subsidies of any form tend to feel entitled to what they are receiving, and why wouldn’t they, after all, their freedoms are being traded away for those subsidies and a false sense of security. They have been captured by the system; they have been paying in with the promise of receiving more than they put in.
What better way to enslave someone than to make them dependent on you? Instead of overtly being a tyrant, slowly undermine the individual’s ability to be able to succeed or survive without you. Don’t make your slave hate you, make them view you as a parental figure. This is exactly what the Federal government does to the States.
When the system you live in creates an environment of dependency justified by jargon about social contracts and the “General Welfare,” it’s time to watch out. Next, you will likely be provided with subsidies to compensate (however unsustainable), those who live under that system tend to be forced into using those subsidies. As the subsidies and aid prove to provide an individual the ability to survive and move on, most people are grateful and think of the subsidies as a good thing; thus the government is good.
As an alternative to solving problems or addressing real issues, we find ourselves arguing over accountability, access, and levels of funding. Few people step back and realize the need for aid in the first place is often because of the government’s initial actions.
It is not always easy to see the gradual undermining of one’s sovereignty. As it happens, it usually seems like a good idea, though often a short term fix that only leads further down the road of dependency. George Washington even eluded to loss of liberty through incrementalism in his farewell address.
So while I sympathize with those who desire a
government shutdown, or an end to the Federal Reserve, I just don’t think most
people understand how connected the tentacles are. The government and
bureaucratic agencies within it have made themselves necessary. You might think
of the relationship similar to a severe puncture wound in the chest cavity,
the last thing you want to do is pull out the object that did the damage.
The Federal Reserve,
"When a politician views society from the seclusion of his office, he is struck by the spectacle of the inequality that he sees. He deplores the deprivations which are the lot of so many of our brothers, deprivations which appear to be even sadder when contrasted with luxury and wealth.Perhaps the politician should ask himself whether this state of affairs has not been caused by old conquests and lootings, and by more recent legal plunder. Perhaps he should consider this proposition: Since all persons seek well-being and perfection, would not a condition of justice be sufficient to cause the greatest efforts toward progress, and the greatest possible equality that is compatible with individual responsibility? Would not this be in accord with the concept of individual responsibility which God has willed in order that mankind may have the choice between vice and virtue, and the resulting punishment and reward?But the politician never gives this a thought. His mind turns to organizations, combinations, and arrangements -- legal or apparently legal. He attempts to remedy the evil by increasing and perpetuating the very thing that caused the evil in the first place: legal plunder. We have seen that justice is a negative concept. Is there even one of these positive legal actions that does not contain the principle of plunder?"
http://www.lexrex.com/.../otherdocuments/thelaw/law13.htm
I stumbled across this after posting this: Government and the Stockholm Syndrome By Paul Clark
Most Americans suffer from a conditioned physiological state similar to those with Stockholm syndrome (“a psychological phenomenon in which hostages express empathy and sympathy and have positive feelings toward their captors, sometimes to the point of defending them.”). But in this case, the government is the perpetrator that is intermittently harassing, abusing its power, intimidating, threatening, stealing from people and sending children to foreign countries to kill and die for perverse incentives. We are bought off with social security, food stamps, Medicare and other forms of financial aid. A strong emotional bond builds, one of dependency, powerlessness and a lack of skills, abilities and the rights to succeed.
As the coming generations are facing the real possibility of debt slavery, those who are receiving subsidies of any form tend to feel entitled to what they are receiving, and why wouldn’t they, after all, their freedoms are being traded away for those subsidies and a false sense of security. They have been captured by the system; they have been paying in with the promise of receiving more than they put in.
What better way to enslave someone than to make them dependent on you? Instead of overtly being a tyrant, slowly undermine the individual’s ability to be able to succeed or survive without you. Don’t make your slave hate you, make them view you as a parental figure. This is exactly what the Federal government does to the States.
When the system you live in creates an environment of dependency justified by jargon about social contracts and the “General Welfare,” it’s time to watch out. Next, you will likely be provided with subsidies to compensate (however unsustainable), those who live under that system tend to be forced into using those subsidies. As the subsidies and aid prove to provide an individual the ability to survive and move on, most people are grateful and think of the subsidies as a good thing; thus the government is good.
As an alternative to solving problems or addressing real issues, we find ourselves arguing over accountability, access, and levels of funding. Few people step back and realize the need for aid in the first place is often because of the government’s initial actions.
It is not always easy to see the gradual undermining of one’s sovereignty. As it happens, it usually seems like a good idea, though often a short term fix that only leads further down the road of dependency. George Washington even eluded to loss of liberty through incrementalism in his farewell address.
If, in the opinion of the people, the
distribution or modification of the constitutional powers be in any particular
wrong, let it be corrected by an amendment in the way which the Constitution
designates. But let there be no change by usurpation; for though this, in one
instance, may be the instrument of good, it is the customary weapon by which
free governments are destroyed. The precedent must always greatly overbalance
in permanent evil any partial or transient benefit, which the use can at any
time yield."
The Federal Reserve,
“Freedom makes a huge requirement of every
human being. With freedom comes responsibility. For the person who is unwilling
to grow up, the person who does not want to carry his own weight, this is a
frightening prospect.” ― Eleanor Roosevelt
Learned Helplessness
James
Phillip Turpin The government illusionarily leads disadvantages people to
believe that they are getting something for free, despite the government merely
displacing voluntary charity with coercive tax and handout systems, which
doubly hurt the disadvantaged by incentivizing poverty without a net increase
in services.
"The welfare of humanity is always the alibi of
tyrants." - Albert Camus
...There is always free cheese in a mouse trap.
"When a politician views society from the seclusion of his office, he is struck by the spectacle of the inequality that he sees. He deplores the deprivations which are the lot of so many of our brothers, deprivations which appear to be even sadder when contrasted with luxury and wealth.Perhaps the politician should ask himself whether this state of affairs has not been caused by old conquests and lootings, and by more recent legal plunder. Perhaps he should consider this proposition: Since all persons seek well-being and perfection, would not a condition of justice be sufficient to cause the greatest efforts toward progress, and the greatest possible equality that is compatible with individual responsibility? Would not this be in accord with the concept of individual responsibility which God has willed in order that mankind may have the choice between vice and virtue, and the resulting punishment and reward?But the politician never gives this a thought. His mind turns to organizations, combinations, and arrangements -- legal or apparently legal. He attempts to remedy the evil by increasing and perpetuating the very thing that caused the evil in the first place: legal plunder. We have seen that justice is a negative concept. Is there even one of these positive legal actions that does not contain the principle of plunder?"
http://www.lexrex.com/.../otherdocuments/thelaw/law13.htm
I stumbled across this after posting this: Government and the Stockholm Syndrome By Paul Clark
Mr. Hayward, thank you for the astute political commentary. Your observations are ones which I also view as the undeniable circumstances which we, the citizenry, presently inhabit.
ReplyDeleteThe current political paradigm is one which views the state as the principle actor in shaping the form of society, which is the belief held by those of (and in support of) the political class who neither recognize the Constitutional precedent for the limitation of state power nor the intellectual merits which support the Libertarian view that it is the Free Association of the Citizenry which are the principle actors for creating a just society.
Please continue writing and I will continue reading.
-Daniel
King County