or Anarchy from a Capitalist's Mind and Musings
Last month I had one of those truly enlightening conversations. You know the kind. We were up into the wee hours of the morning and I had multiple thoughts and ideas that seemed to converge to make sense of years of study and research. One of them was about the role of the government.
Governments make and enforce laws and laws restrict freedoms in exchange for safety. The thing that governments do best is restrict freedom. And we as citizens of ANY government are trading in our freedoms and our agency for safety and security. It is my opinion that there are things far less valuable that I could be exchanging for safety - like money. Are you with me? Of all the things that government provides, is there anything that cannot be provided by private enterprise? I challenge you to think of one.
So as someone who holds her personal freedom and agency as the greatest (and only everlasting) thing I have, I find it the most valuable thing I have to trade and the only thing that I can't ever truly give up. It is sacrosanct.
So the conclusion was thus: Any government aside from self-government is evil and corrupt.*
Alas, as I know of no John Galt, Francisco d'Anconia, or Ragnar Danneskjöld who have built or are building a society free from oppression and hidden from the evils of the world, I find myself living in this one and grateful to have seen the polarity of the issue.
*Please don't misunderstand me. I fully recognize that we live in an era that requires government. I am in no way saying that I support the complete overthrow of ANY government. People need structure and boundaries and many are unable to create and adhere to boundaries of their own design. (For example, no matter how many times I give up cupcakes for the greater good of my waistline, I still find myself faced with the decision of how many I will eat when they are anywhere near me.) So, government is a necessary evil. I just wish the concept of personal freedom was one our law makers and government officials held in higher regard.
