12/23/11 Baltimore, Maryland – A theory should explain something without reference to something else. That is, a metaphor doesn’t work. It’s just a description. If you say that government is a kind of ‘social contract,’ you are merely describing how it seems to you…or what you think it might be comparable to.
Our theory is that government is a natural phenomenon, an expression of power relationships, in which some people seek to dominate others by force. These dominators gather ‘insiders’ together so that they can take money, power and status away from other people, the ‘outsiders.’
Many people think that government provides some service. That is true, but it is incidental. Governments often deliver the mail. But they don’t have to. They would still be governments even if they didn’t control the Post Office. And what if they didn’t have a department of inland fisheries, or a program to teach retarded democrats to count to 20? They would still be in the government business…and still have their helicopters, chauffeurs and expense accounts. But if they lost control of the police or the army it would be an entirely different matter. Force is the essence of government, not a decorative detail. Without armies and police, they would no longer be governments. It is “from the barrel of a gun,” as Mao put it, that political power projects itself.
At the end of the 19th century, people were asked what they thought the new century would bring. Almost universally they predicted that government would grow smaller. Why? Because people were becoming much richer and better educated. The thinkers of the time thought there would be less need for government. People who were rich and well-educated had no use for government, they believed.
It didn’t turn out that way. Because the thinkers misunderstood what government really is. They had the wrong theory. Government is not an organization that provides benefits and services, and therefore shrinks as the need subsides. Governments grew tremendously in the 20th century. Because they are essentially parasitic luxuries. As a society grows richer it can afford more illusions, more waste, more re-distribution of wealth, more regulation, higher taxes, and more unproductive government employees.
The outsiders take more, because there is more to take.
Bill Bonner
for The Daily Reckoning
Bill Bonner
Since founding Agora Inc. in 1979, Bill Bonner has found success and garnered camaraderie in numerous communities and industries. A man of many talents, his entrepreneurial savvy, unique writings, philanthropic undertakings, and preservationist activities have all been recognized and awarded by some of America's most respected authorities. Along with Addison Wiggin, his friend and colleague, Bill has written two New York Times best-selling books, Financial Reckoning Day and Empire of Debt. Both works have been critically acclaimed internationally. With political journalist Lila Rajiva, he wrote his third New York Times best-selling book, Mobs, Messiahs and Markets, which offers concrete advice on how to avoid the public spectacle of modern finance. Since 1999, Bill has been a daily contributor and the driving force behind The Daily Reckoning. Dice Have No Memory: Big Bets & Bad Economics from Paris to the Pampas, the newest book from Bill Bonner, is the definitive compendium of Bill’s daily reckonings from more than a decade: 1999-2010.
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Well said,Bill–as usual.
Is democratic, secular theocracy possible?
remember orwell and his ‘high, middle and low’?
I think the last sentence was supposed to be “Insiders”
Amazing how utopian predictions come out of every age. Wasn’t too long ago that faith in technology lead to the belief that a man-made millenium lie just ahead, where productivity increases lead many of us to a life without the burden of jobs… Well, seems part of that has come true anyway.
I agree with Mike…
“Or outsiders take more government”
Either way, it needs an edit.
Maybe governments and constitutions have a use by date. When mercantilism was de rigeur, free market practice when introduced won out. Now it is the reverse and mercantilism trumps free markets.
When the US constitution was young it was one of the great documents, yet now it’s been perverted by smartarses who have had long enough to find its weaknesses and to exploit them.
Democracy is the best option but maybe it needs to be more dynamic, somehow denying the smartarses.
Here are a few ideas for a change to govt.
1. Pay politicians a min. $5 mill annual salary
2. Elections every 12 months
3 Automatic imprisonment for political corruption
4. Absolutely no corporate political donations.
5. Anyone who declares war leads the army into battle.
6. No secret agents.
Ron Paul seems to have the right ideas. I’m going to listen more carefully to him.
Nice thoughts Sherlock.
So how does one lead an Army into a War on “Terror,” “Drugs,” and “Poverty?”
Sergeant?
Sir, yes, sir!
See that double-wide with the Camaro on blocks in the front yard?
Sir, yes, sir!
Take your squad and go defeat poverty…and if you find meth(you will), defeat the drugs too!
Sir, yes…sir? Sir, what the h*ll do you mean?
Too many creeps on missions in the gov for it to ever grow smaller. History shows us that gov is everywhere. Follows us around like a virus.
…i think government is the grammar of mankind’s collective creativity…
5. Anyone who declares war leads the army into battle.
Good idea Sherlock. Make anyone who votes for war pay for it too.
How is government different from a corporation? We certainly have a lot of corporations. And of course, the Republicans are now telling us that “Corporations are People”.
Now you leave me interested. I would be great if you can detail more. What were thinking Spencer, Bastiat, Molinari, Spooner? No one of them saw this was comming?
Saw it coming, as in Spencer’s “The Coming Slavery”?
http://www.econlib.org/library/LFBooks/Spencer/spnMvS2.html
bonner, i won’t take you seriously any more, not since you endorsed gingrich.
I kind of agreed to the what you said “some people seek to dominate others by force”. They mainly fight for “Power” and not for “Responsibilities”…
Bonner endorsed Gingrich?
He musta been drunk?
Government follows people around since it’s a projection of human nature…
Is it really the government stealing from the people through inflation ? or is it private banking institutions that own the Federal Reserve bank ? Are the politicians not just pawns for the bankers? How can they not be when the bankers are immensely more wealthy than any politician can dream of ? The only way we can stop the politicians from doing the bidding of the bankers is to force them to do the will of the people. We can do that via protests or other means, but we need to find ways to force them to do what we want – because voting for one of only 2 parties is no longer good enough. I would say part of getting people to vote for the right party is through education of what the government is currently doing and of what they should be doing. The mainsteam media has failed the public – we need more Daily Reckoning’s
When will we see an article on the Daily Reckoning about which private banks own the Federal Reserve bank ?
“Almost universally they predicted that government would grow smaller… The thinkers of the time thought there would be less need for government. People who were rich and well-educated had no use for government, they believed.”
Is there a source for this or some specific examples of people who believed it? I would like to investigate further. That people demand _more_ government services as they become richer is an article of faith on the left.
“When will we see an article on the Daily Reckoning about which private banks own the Federal Reserve bank ?”
Don’t hold your breath, the Fed seems to be the 800 lb gorilla in the room no one wants to, or is willing to talk about. They are the absolute epi-center of wealth, power and corruption in this nation!
If Bill were to broach this subject, I’m afraid his days would be numbered.
“because voting for one of only 2 parties is no longer good enough”
Now you’ve hit the nail on the head, note the on going presidential election charade. No matter who get’s elected, he will be who the Fed wants and will continue the same old policies.The Banksters rule the world, always have, always will.
“If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their money, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them (around the banks), will deprive the people of their property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.” —Thomas Jefferson
Billions For The Bankers –
Debts For The People
The Real Story Of The Money Control Over America – By Sheldon Emry
http://www.rense.com/general61/bbil.shtm
——————————————
Who own the Federal Reserve ? See “The Federal Reserve Cartel: The Eight Families” – by Dean Henderson
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=25080
Dean Henderson is a frequent contributor to Global Research – the Centre for Research on Globalization.
Interesting article on new laws on voting for US citizens
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/dec/28/republicans-voter-rights-suppression
Bill didn’t endorse Gingrich. He simply said Newt would make the best driver when the car finally shoots off the cliff. and you must admit, Newt is the epitome of zombie government. He is even named after a slimy reptile that lives under a rock!