I hate politics
Bob notes that I am pessimistic about government. To quote a mildly retarded character from a little play called The Boys Next Door, well, frankly, and I repeat, I am.
Seriously, though. I am concerned about our government. The root of my frustration is that we the people have forgotten the whole point of this country, namely, freedom. It goes beyond simply not wanting freedom; rather, a large number of people seem to actively refuse it. They want more restrictions. They want more "protections". They don't realize that each one of these that passes is another limitation on otherwise legal, voluntary behavior, and that as a free society, we don't get any more "rights" or "priveleges" in return.
These people want Big Brother. They think the government is fundamentally benign or, at worst, neutral; I would just rather see it mind its own business and get off my back. It affects all of us. And it's sneaky, too: most people in this country don't think they pay taxes. What a joke. Do they wonder where the money from their paycheck goes -- the itemized parts that have such lovely acronyms like FICA and OASDI? I doubt it. I think if people were made personally aware of how much their keeper is costing them, they'd reconsider the merits of maintaining it.
I love the idea of freedom, not merely as an academic issue but because I understand its connection to human happiness. But I hate politics. I hate that I have to think about it. I hate that I have to spend one minute thinking about what the folks in Washington are going to do if I'm not looking. I just want to live my life -- and I imagine most people just want to do the same. They don't want me telling them what to do any more than I want them telling me what to do. We don't have the right to do it anyway, and having government do the "telling" doesn't legitimize the act.
I believe it is possible to achieve the goals of a truly free society, but it will take strength of will and a solid foundation of ideas from a large number of confident leaders to make it happen. (And it will take us refusing to countenance any action that individuals withing the government take that further diminish our rights or our freedom.) And knowing that, though difficult, this is possible, gives me enough optimism to counter the pessimism generated by the activities of another day in the capital.
Sheesh.
Posted by Matt at June 27, 2003 6:35 PM
