Commentary on “The 545 People Responsible For All Of U.S. Woes”

Commentary on “The 545 People Responsible For All Of U.S. Woes”By Charley Reese
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18568.htm

It may be true that there are 545 members of Federal Government. Yet, this oversimplifies the problem. Most federal programs which are enacted at a state level are instances where the state has been bribed with federal dollars, to enact and enforce federal programs. This makes elected state officials an extension of the federal system, every branch and arm of government is a further extension, from the FCC, ICC, IRS, FDA, Department of Agriculture, Department of Defense, Department of Education, Department of Energy, Department of Health and Human Services, and I am only giving a small sample, under each heading there is a sub-list. The list of agencies and departments is many pages long. You can view them here: http://knol.google.com/k/tom-milledge/list-of-united-states-federal-agencies/6mfkn636our/54#
Federal government has grown into a leviathan with an abundance of arms and branches reaching into almost every area of life. Every person who works in or for these agencies is a beneficiary of and dependent on government for their livelihood. They have become an extension of the system. This is just one area, and believe me it is quite an army. Government is parasitical it requires a host, it must be fed, it is the nature of the beast. In order to insure its survival it grows itself, and it grows the number of people dependent upon it, those who work for government and all of its extensions and arms. It has further empowered itself by appealing to the lower classes, in promising to provide for them. Yet, none of these is productive labor, they are all dependent on productive labor, they require it for their support and existence. They make their living on taxing productive labor. All of their wages and benefits are paid by productive labor.
Finally, it grows itself to a level which is no longer sustainable, and it begins to destroy the healthy host-productive labor. It eats away capital, and savings, leaving nothing for the next year. It is like a farmer who uses up all his seeds, and saves nothing for the following year. He does this continually and just a small amount of common sense will lead one to the logical conclusion. Washington said; “Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master.” At this point government is faced with a dilemma, it must restrict and cut back itself in size and scope, or it must take total control. Taking total control will only prolong the agony, for government is in the business of buying loyalty, and production for use rather than profit. Yes, all production is for use, but profit is evil according to those of a socialist mindset, or it is not put to a proper use, a use the anointed (Those in the ivory towers of government and academia) feels it is better able to decide than the individual, the entrepreneur. The truth is profit is what makes or provides capital; it is what results in savings that are in turn used to create new wealth and profit. Cutting itself back in size and scope requires moral rectitude, it means self sacrifice. That this would be highly unpopular with all the beneficiaries of government is beyond doubt, and this leads them to the conclusion that it would be political suicide. The masses are benefitted by the government’s generosity, the university professor’s benefit from grants and endowments, teachers benefit through job security and wages, parents benefit with free daycare and by transferring the responsibility of their children’s education to the state. Farmers are benefitted by the government’s manipulation of the market, government sets the price of products above what would occur naturally by paying farmers not to farm, not to grow and plant. With every reduction or cut back of government it will affect large groups of people, people who see government as security. That each and almost every program of government could be provided and offered through the free-market is irrelevant to them. The people want security and protection against competition, the politicians want power, and security in their position and they are willing to pay the price for all the excess bureaucracy to have it, despite the fact that this is a waste of scarce resources and a drain on productive society. This is in fact where we are today, it is our present condition. The government prefers the path of total control, which will inevitably lead and has led to the destruction of our economy. Our government is dying; it is in its death throes now. The Federal Reserve and the banks which comprise it, are not suffering from a lack of liquidity, they are bankrupt, insolvent. The money (IOUS) they are printing, and with every turn of the printing press will ultimately lead to hyperinflation; by making the paper abundant and valueless, this is just another way to hide taxation on the productive elements of society. I do not include those who are paid through and by government, who are subsidized, and protected by legislation, etc. for in reality they pay no taxes, all that they receive comes from the productive element. You may say well, “they are working for a living”, this is true. Go try to fire them, after all you pay their wages, but you cannot do so. In a truly free market you could or you could simply buy the services somewhere else. That is what is so marvelous about the free market and liberty.
Therefore for those of us, who believe in freedom; that hold liberty as dear, we are likewise faced with a choice. Are we willing to reject the leviathan, if we work for government are we willing to know longer serve and find a job in the private sector. Are we willing to reject welfare, Medicaid, social security, and opt to be self responsible? I know you paid for it, but the system is broke, there is no money, just an IOU! You have been robbed. Are we willing not just to increase your exemptions on your withholding tax, but to refuse to pay government any tax at all when it comes due? Are we willing to recognize that education is not a right, that economic security is not a right, and to reject these foolish notions? Are we willing to sacrifice our lives, our fortunes, our properties for Liberty? Our founding fathers were and they did!
Albert J. Nock stated the following “It is unfortunately none too well understood that, just as the State has no money of its own, so it has no power of its own. All the power it has is what society gives it, plus what it confiscates from time to time on one pretext or another; there is no other source from which State power can be drawn. Therefore every assumption of State power, whether by gift or seizure, leaves society with so much less power; there is never, nor can there be, any strengthening of State power without a corresponding and roughly equivalent depletion of social power.”

Reading “In the Politics of Obedience” Part 1, by Etienne De La Boetie it is described it this way. “The fundamental political question is why do people obey a government. The answer is that they tend to enslave themselves, to let themselves be governed by tyrants. Freedom from servitude comes not from violent action, but from the refusal to serve. Tyrants fall when the people withdraw their support”.