Opinion: Rights beyond government oversight

I often say politics makes people stupid. I’ve tried to think of a nicer way to say this, but there isn’t one.

I don’t tie this to any specific political party, but observe it applies to all of them, through the effect they have on everyone who identifies with them.

I’m embarrassed for people who pretend Joe Biden is mentally or physically capable and for those who imagine Donald Trump is a friend to gun owners.

No one has a right to govern another person. There’s no way to manufacture such a right out of thin air, with documents, or out of historical justifications dreamed up by fans of political governance. Calling it “a republic” or “democracy” changes nothing. Believing such a thing only proves my point about what politics does to the human mind.

I realize nearly everyone has been brainwashed by a dozen or more years in a compulsory government institution, during the most vulnerable stage of life, to fear life without being treated like property. This doesn’t make the fairy tale true.

I don’t care who is in which political office; they all seem obsessed with trying to run people’s lives and milk us for money. I neither need nor want their governance or guidance, and I don’t want to pay for it. What goes wrong inside someone’s head to make them fall for this scam?

Politics often makes people a little bit evil, too; justifying things they would recognize as wrong in any other context.

Politics doesn’t make our lives better. The only possible exception is when politics is used in defense against some political wrong that wouldn’t have happened without politics in the first place. Using politics against politics is absurd, but I understand why many people feel the need to address a political wrong this way instead of simply defying the act until it fades away from disuse.

It’s easy to tell when a political wrong has been committed. Does an act of government violate anyone’s life, liberty, or property? Does it do this openly, or by trying to sneak in a requirement to get government permission? If so, it’s wrong.

Rights are beyond government oversight; above legislation, rules, opinions, taxes, or any sort of limit. The only limits on rights are the equal and identical rights of others.

If you need to be governed to act like a good person, you aren’t a good person. Politics won’t help.

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

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