Fixing Government

Why is the wish to “fix government” so universal, and the wish to find an alternate system so rare? In my view, the alternative system is right under our noses. (hint: it starts with "Free" and ends with "Market")

This reluctance to search for what is right under our noses is what perpetuates the idiocy of big central government: it goes and goes, grows and grows... We keep searching for a way to make government work "the way it should work".

The hope that energizes this "political way of doing things" is that we can eventually find a way for "Representative Government" to work as a truly fair and just "representative" system. We've only been working on it since Greece 750BC. Just a few more years, and we'll get it right. How stupid are we??

I'm convinced it's not "stupidity", it's emotional blockage from being immersed in this idea through popular media, bad parenting, religion, education, and culture in general.

We have been taught from childhood that Representative Constitutional Democratic Central Government is the cat's meow. After we grow up, we see that things don't really work as well as we were led to believe. We see that all of our biggest problems can be traced back to government meddling.

Both Left and Right see this "broken system" clearly. But the solution is muddled by emotional thinking, which is not “thinking” at all. Each side is scared of the other side gaining power. But what both sides fear most is questioning the idea of “representative government”. They're happy to chop away at the branches of the problem, but they don't dare Strike the Root. That would require too much introspection and empathy.

Even after our political system lets us down so completely, we still can't bring ourselves to dare think about dumping the system. We feel like government is the framework of society.

Without government we would have no roads, no mail, no charity, no environmental protection, no protection from alien invaders, no communication, no protection from criminals, no recreational parks, no protection from greedy businessmen, no way to enforce private contracts. And on and on.

So, we spin our wheels trying to fix the system. We set up opposing parties, one that cares more about social justice and equality and another that cares more about protection and productivity (notice that liberal concerns are motherly and conservative concerns are fatherly).

One side blames the other side for every thing that is wrong in the world. This is just a foil to repress the consciousness of the answer under our noses. No conspiracy necessary. Our psychological block is so strong that we are blind to the big picture. We all grow up immersed in a culture of dominance - of "Might Makes Right".

"I have seen the enemy, and he is us".

The "let's try to fix it" foil has developed over the years to the point where both right and left actually admit that the answer lies under our noses. The Right asserts love for the free market and family values, the Left asserts love for community and charity. But it's a half-hearted assertion.

If they really had this great faith in community, charity, free markets, and family values, they would stop supporting the iron fist of the government, and let these things blossom on their own. Society would thrive without government programs "assisting" these natural and voluntary arrangements of mutual assistance.