Viva la Viewpoint!

"The government is best which governs least," is a statement often erroneously attributed to Thomas Jefferson. Although he likely would have agreed, the statement cannot be found in any of his writings. It is, however, plainly written by Henry David Thoreau:

 

I heartily accept the motto,—“That government is best which governs least;” and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which I also believe,—“That government is best which governs not at all;” and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have. Government is at best but an expedient; but most governments are usually, and all governments are sometimes, inexpedient.

—Thoreau, Civil Disobedience

 

The trend of today seems to run counter to the words of Thoreau and the inclinations of Jefferson. We see a citizenry taught to worship it's government and to not only depend upon, but demand from it all manner of "services" not natural to it. Somewhere along the line Americans have switched from rugged individualism to radical governmentalism. 

The truth is, however, that governments only do one thing well: grow in power. Over time, they creep in their reach and gain in their control. Nothing is more natural for a bereaucracy than to add to itself like coral growing on a reef. Over time the accumulation grows big enough to block the waves of freedom and leave instead a pool of slack water.

Government interference in human affairs (beyond its basic responsibility for protection against enemies domestic and abroad) depends upon several factors and participants. In an attempt to make the process of the loss of freedom more recognizable, perhaps the following list will be helpful:

1. Viewpoint - this is the inflexible dogma of government control in one area or another that motivates the behaviors of the Valiant.

2. Valiant - these are the champions of the Viewpoint, the schemers who push it on everyone else "for their own good."

3. Victims - those who are being somehow unfairly treated and are therefore entitled to a special benefit from the government

4. Villains - anyone who does not pledge blind loyalty to the Viewpoint

5.  Verifiers (or Validators) - the idealists who preach the Viewpoint as though it is the most obvious truth in the world

6. Vassals - students in many schools and particular universities who become indoctrinated into the Viewpoint

7. Voters - sheep to be manipulated to vote for the Viewpoint no matter how harmful it may be to them. 

8. Vandals - those who write any opinion against the Viewpoint

9. Vanishing - what happens to freedom when the Viewpoint takes firm foothold in a nation

10. Vanity - all human effort to establish a perfect world outside of God's laws and grace

Viva la Viewpoint!

Sincerely,

Chris Brady