Be Skeptical, Be Very Skeptical
Written by Anonymous on 9:08 PMWhen people fear the government, it is tyranny. When government fears the people, it is liberty.Skepticism of all government schemes and suspicion of all political practitioners is what attracts me to libertarianism. Indeed, political charlatans do their worst under cover of blind party loyalty (He may be a rotten crook, but he's our rotten crook, and look at the goodies he got us!) Instead of getting into arguments over Republican-Democrat issues, libertarians aim their darts at government gone wild, regardless of whether the cause is stampeding elephants or braying jackasses.
--Thomas Jefferson
You see, both parties have departed from the original purpose of government: to secure the liberties of all citizens and to protect our God-given, inalienable rights. The Demicans and Republicrats now see government as a tool to achieve their own selfish ends. Ignorant citizens have caught the contagion, believing government power should be used to shape social policy and cure every ill. The founders are rolling over in their graves.
Politicians of all stripes know that the first step to getting something done is to scare everybody. Next step is to define the boundaries of the debate. Final step before ramming it home is to demonize the opposition. Whoever can frame the debate is 90% on the way to winning it.
In a Reason Magazine article, Jesse Walker compares the Stimulus Stampede of '09 to the Iraq War Rush of '03 and the Patriot Act Panic of '01.
The Dems have learned a lot from the administration they deposed. As the St. Lawrence University economist Steve Horwitz wrote this week, "Accusing your opponents of being 'ethics-free Republican hacks'...means you don't have to argue for the merits of the individual pieces, just scare the public and demonize the opposition. Of course, that's exactly what these same folks complained about after 9/11. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss indeed."Regardless of where you stand on these three issues, an honest assessment reveals that the same pattern was used in all three: Scare, Define, Demonize, Ram it through with minimal debate. Iraq is somewhat of an exception, the Democrats caved in on that one with barely a fight.
Lesson Learned: If a politician says it's gotta be done now, all kinds of sirens and alarm bells should be going off in your head, regardless of party loyalty.
http://reason.com/news/show/131332.html
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