A Healthy Mistrust of Government

One of the political left’s favorite conceits is that Americans — particularly the “red state” fly-over variety — hate their government.

We’re not discerning enough to distinguish between the bad elements of government — those increasingly annoying pre-emptions of our privacy and choices — and government’s ability to protect us from tainted groceries, terrorism and nuclear attacks from rogue states.

We don’t split hairs. We dissenters simply hate our government with a blind fury — monuments, bridges, highways and all.

The word “hater” is now routinely misapplied to anyone who questions any government initiative — whether it be the public financing of abortions, the codification of gay marriage, the nationalizing of health care, or the electronic surveillance of our license plates. If you question government’s invidious intrusions, you’re a “government hater.”

“How many times will those of us who fear government be marginalized and stigmatized by Democrats this week?”

Well, the framers of our constitution certainly had a healthy fear of government. If one should do one of those “on the street” interviews and ask some folks what the purpose of our constitution is; most would say it's purpose is to define or state our rights. As most good conservatives know, the purpose of the constitution is to limit the powers of government. In fact,I have heard it said, but am too lazy to count for myself, that the words “the government shall not infringe” or words close to that, at stated seventy eight times in the constitution...

I’m reminded of the phrase:

When the citizens fear the government, there is tyranny.
When the government fears the citizens, there is liberty.

And then there’s always:

Love your country, fear your government.
(fear in this case meaning “be wary/vigilant/suspect of”)

Government is a necessary evil--necessary, of course, but also evil. It enforces its authority by violence or threat of violence. The greater the government, the greater the evil. The government that governs least governs best.

Government is a magnet for sociopaths.

Sociopaths have no internal moral compass, little or no conscience, little or no sense of shame, remorse, love, or gratitude. For these reasons they are dangerous.

Most respond to social pressures because of self-interest. However, as they gain power, such pressures become attenuated. Sufficiently empowered, there is no limit to the cruelty, selfishness, greed, violence, and evil that they will commit. Politics empowers them.

There are probably about as many sociopaths in society as there are alcoholics or homosexuals (these psychopathologies are not necessarily related, though, of course, they can occur in the same person.)

There are probably as many sociopaths in Washington as there are homosexuals in San Francisco.

Anyone who favors increasing the size, reach, appetite, and power of the government--and thus of the sociopaths who are drawn to it--is a fool.

History and the world are full of examples of sociopaths who seized power over nations and the evil they committed and the destruction they left behind in their wake. The incognoscenti are always shocked by their behavior. Those who know sociopaths--and the wise and honest--are not; we know what to expect from them.

A government big enough to give you all you want is a government big enough to take all you own...

Don’t know who said that, but it’s true. Funny how when the Left advocates government programs, all against them are said to be full of hate or racism. When the Right is in power, they all say government is too powerful. The fundamental difference between conservative and progressive is in the understanding of history and in the considered and healthy mistrust of governmental power.

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