Opinion: Government bad tool for the job

“Government is not reason, it is not eloquence - it is force! Like fire it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master; never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action.”

This quote is often attributed to George Washington, but scholars insist he never said it. Scholars consistently fact-check away intelligent quotes that support liberty. The most accurate quips and observations are usually denied as ever having been said. That’s too bad; if Washington had said this it would have been one of the smarter things he said.

Yet, it’s still not quite right.

If government is like fire, it’s like a wildfire engulfing a stack of propane tanks under a daycare full of children.

Government is a tool -- a tool invariably used as an offensive weapon. I’ve seen some try to compare government to firearms; a tool that is neither good nor bad. Government is much more like a bomb -- a nuclear bomb. It isn’t possible to aim it accurately enough to avoid destroying the life, liberty, and property of innocent bystanders. The intention may be to only use it defensively, but this isn’t possible in the real world.

Those who founded America tried to establish a defensive government that would do the one and only thing a legitimate government can do: defend the rights of the people from any who would violate them. Yet it took no time for even their young government to start being used to violate people’s rights rather than protect them. Even the Constitution rejected pure defense of rights for enshrined government powers that harm life, liberty, and property. The power to tax being one of the worst.

The idea of defensive government is one that fools most people into going along with the institution, which is the single greatest threat to their liberty. The tiny risk of terrorism pales in comparison to the real, everyday violations you are subjected to by the government you might believe protects you from the terrorists. You’d be better off without it.

This idea of government to protect your rights has failed every single time it has been tried. Like it or not, government remains the biggest threat to your life, liberty, and property.

When choosing a tool for defense, reach for one which, like a firearm, can be aimed at the threat with surgical precision, not for a weapon of random destruction like the molotov cocktail of political government.

Farwell’s Kent McManigal champions liberty. Contact him at:

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