Subject: Wanted: Power-Happy Control Freak -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Dear Subscriber, (Preface: I was already in the process of writing a blurb about something, when someone sent me a very appropriate, albeit very sickening, example--included below--illustrating the point.) Wouldn't it be nice if there was a "goodness-o-meter"? We could run everyone through it, and only let the good guys have guns, or we could put a label on the really bad guys to warn the rest of us. In fact, if there was some magic way to tell who the smart, benevolent, justice-loving people were, then "government" might almost make sense (but not quite). We could make sure the good guys had all the power, so they could protect us from the bad guys. And that's the premise behind the desire for "government": the hope that the people who become lawmakers, police, prosecutors and judges are better than average guy. (If they're as bad as the rest of us, giving them special powers obviously wouldn't improve the situation.) Trouble is, when you offer a job which includes having power over others, good people very rarely apply. You see, good people don't WANT to rule anyone else. Good people respect others, and so want to leave them in freedom. It is almost always the megalomaniacs-- those who love dominion over others--who apply for authoritarian positions. One of the premises of the belief in "government" is the feeling that we, the masses, are so unpredictable, negligent, and/or malicious, that we need the best among us to get together, form a government, and thereby keep us average folk in line. Trouble is, the best among us don't want that job; the worst among us do. I recently posted a link to a video capturing the antics of a certain power-happy, god-complex fascist with a badge who works for the St. George, Missouri police department. (Apparently CNN reported it--after I did.) Yes, society needs to be protected from the really nasty people, but when appointing authoritarian "protectors," if you accidentally choose a nasty person--the kind who usually seek positions of power--and you give him a badge, a gun, and powers the rest of us don't have--well, you can see the outcome. Yes, we'd all hope that people with power will not misuse it, and the statists insist that we need a government of good guys, in which case it's okay--necessary, in fact--to give them lots more power than the rest of us have. It's for our own good, right? Consider, for example, Mr. Atchison--an experienced crime-fighting prosecutor down in Florida, working as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Department of Justice. He's the kind of guy who protects us from the low-lifes of the world! He's the kind we need to give extra power to, in order to keep our children safe! Well, actually, as it turns out, he's the kind of low-life our children need to be protected from. (Warning: Even though the following is a mainstream news story, it's quite disgusting and revolting, so feel free to skip it. Just know that this federal prosecutor was apparently caught attempting to do something exceedingly repulsive and evil--something he said he has done before.) http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070918/NEWS04/709180375 What struck me about the story, however, wasn't just that one person in a position of power got caught, or even the mention of another Florida prosecutor getting in trouble for something similar. It was the comment in the story, quoting from those who investigate such crimes, saying that it's gotten to the point where they are "almost unfazed when they discover prominent community figures" engaging in such extreme sliminess. I guess those investigators found out what I keep saying: people who crave power (sometimes called "prominent community figures") are not good people. The public desperately wants a group of good guys to be in charge, and to have at their disposal the necessary power to make sure justice prevails. So they hallucinate a "government," and hope like heck that somehow righteous heroes will take the job, and will use the power to rid the world of evil and injustice! But they don't. Thieving, demented, callous, sadistic control- freaks get the job instead. But that doesn't deter the statists, who then cry, "Well NEXT time we'll get someone GOOD in there!" (When has that ever happened?) Again, righteous, good people--who care about freedom and justice--don't WANT the job of forcibly controlling their neighbors. It is an inherently IMMORAL job which naturally attracts only those who don't mind using violence against innocent people. It's not just bad luck that slimeballs and lunatics always get into power; they're the only ones who would WANT the job. If you had elections to choose a local car-jacker, how many GOOD people do you think would apply? Only nasty people--or unthinking puppets--WANT a job that includes controlling everyone else, and this is true despite the fact that cops and prosecutors sometimes use force to stop people who DESERVE to be stopped--like (ironically) the federal prosecutor mention above. A cop or prosecutor is not allowed to choose which "laws" to enforce. It's his job to enforce them all, including the completely immoral ones (any "law" that initiates violence against someone who has committed no force or fraud against anyone else--which includes most "laws"). The fact that sometimes he uses justifiable force doesn't justify all the times he uses immoral force. Someone who becomes a cop with good intentions will find that he is often required to enforce unjustified commands, at which point he either quits, or betrays his good intentions. Bad guys, on the other hand, thrive in such a situation, as it gives them societal "permission" (from statists, at least) to intrude, harass, extort, assault, and murder in the name of the "law." And, as lots of people have learned the hard way, once you give a bad guy lots of power, it's not easy to take it away from him again. When you find yourself at the mercy of some dishonest, power- happy authoritarian psycho--whether it be a cop, a prosecutor, or a judge--then you know just how important it is to NOT let nasty people get those positions. But since nasty people are almost always the only ones who ever APPLY for those jobs, what are we to do? Answer: DON'T GIVE ANYONE THE POSITION. I know, I know: That's too extreme! We neeeeeeed super-human protectors! No matter how often the ones we put there show themselves to be slimeballs of the highest order, people still keep hoping that having a ruling class (aka "government") will improve society. How ironic that peoples' fear of the nasty and irresponsible folk among us is what leads to those same nasty folk acquiring enormous power over all of us. We fear a small monster, and create a HUGE monster to protect us from the little one. And when the huge one turns against us--as it always has and always will--all that most of us can think of is what new, even bigger monster we might try to replace it with (if it lets us). Meanwhile, those crazies among us (anarchists) who say "Um, we don't need a monster," are called extreme. Go figure. Sincerely, Larken Rose http://www.larkenrose.com -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Note: This signature can be verified at https://www.hushtools.com/verify Charset: UTF8 Version: Hush 2.5 wpwEAQECAAYFAkbwOTQACgkQGmVFo/iGj30rnwQAmtZVAC0WhZQymeLuBYVHZIay0eLq XwbqX+KwhGiw6OduTFPy/hta66FGQUE1pGeQQcSQAjb3LcPv+7ZJCwXHoSshY6CsHO1l 3sULTKedpVLxL4/xuQIB+op7WZIAxmnLfkBqLn22zTpFWmGN9mk5jU7tGSxei4yy8oya fv40wek= =SDV1 -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- -- Click for free info on discount teaching degrees programs. http://tagline.hushmail.com/fc/Ioyw6h4eob42dgxZak1gpXK7Hu8dAR5LatqYOfsbu1wWPb0VlmT6Pq/ --------------------------------------------------------------------- To subscribe, send a blank message to tmds-on@mail-list.com To contact the list owner, send your message to tmds-list-owner@mail-list.com