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THREE

Posted on: February 11, 2019 at 12:05:14 CT
90Tiger STL
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Three
The government is us; we are the government, you and I.

Another so-called “progressive,” Theodore Roosevelt, spoke those words in 1902. Plenty of other people have said something similar, often as a way of endorsing representative government over, say, a dictatorship. It may sound innocuous, but it’s actually insidious.

One of the first things I ever read by the late Austrian School economist Murray Rothbard was a convincing refutation of this collectivist canard. Rothbard argued that government is a collection of individuals who, by virtue of the monopoly of legal power they possess, exert influence and control over other people. Some people consent to it; others do not. But let’s not make the mistake of assuming that just because we can elect our politicians, everything they subsequently do is “voluntary” on our part or that we’re all doing it to each other.

In the mind of a power-thirsty politician, “the government is us” mentality is a license to justify all sorts of mischief.

If you were drafted by the government and sent to Vietnam, you probably didn’t think you were the one doing the sending.

If a Martian landed in your backyard and declared, “Take me to your government,” you wouldn’t reply, “Oh, well here I am. What can I do for you?” More likely, you’d send him to Capitol Hill or the White House.

In the mind of a power-thirsty politician, “the government is us” mentality is a license to justify all sorts of mischief. In the mind of an obsequious citizen, it’s an excuse to acquiesce to whatever that politician wants to do to him.
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MESSAGE THREAD

Bad quotes from Bad Presidents - 90Tiger MU - 2/11 12:01:39
     Fate gave us 3 incredible presidents to start. - RHAYWORTH MU - 2/11 12:27:26
          Washington was no hero and craved power - pickle MU - 2/11 13:58:35
          Washington raised an army against his own citizens - SwampTiger MU - 2/11 12:31:57
               Maybe because about half of his citizens - GA Tiger MU - 2/11 13:05:02
                    you’re an idiot, GAT (nm) - pickle MU - 2/11 13:59:05
                    lol GAT (nm) - SwampTiger MU - 2/11 13:07:31
               would you toss out everything else about Washington and - 90Tiger MU - 2/11 12:58:36
                    lol 90 - SwampTiger MU - 2/11 13:06:55
                         I don't adore him, it was just a question (nm) - 90Tiger MU - 2/11 14:32:49
                              I know (nm) - SwampTiger MU - 2/11 14:52:10
                         Possibly because you BUY too much whiskey. And - GA Tiger MU - 2/11 13:22:54
                              the board's libertarian (nm) - 90Tiger MU - 2/11 14:07:11
                              Actually, the Articles were working well - pickle MU - 2/11 14:02:41
                                   They also weren't working if we were going to - GA Tiger MU - 2/11 14:07:21
                                        That doesn’t make sense - pickle MU - 2/11 14:25:48
                              I'll stipulate that men wanted greater power and - SwampTiger MU - 2/11 13:28:01
               That was the major tax funding at the time. - RHAYWORTH MU - 2/11 12:50:57
                    that's where it all began, yes (nm) - SwampTiger MU - 2/11 12:52:23
               Jon Adams represented the British soldiers accused of - MrBlueSky MU - 2/11 12:38:19
     some real **** stain presidents there... - escalade NWMSU - 2/11 12:10:42
          Interesting choices of quotes for wild Bill and the black - hokie VT - 2/11 12:23:38
          I've often wondered about Jefferson - SwampTiger MU - 2/11 12:13:20
               what's a 'work within the system guy" and I would offer that - 90Tiger MU - 2/11 12:24:42
                    RE: what's a 'work within the system guy" and I would offer that - SwampTiger MU - 2/11 12:37:17
                         is it your contention that he ran for office not aware of - 90Tiger MU - 2/11 12:59:46
                              I used the word "wondered" (nm) - SwampTiger MU - 2/11 13:08:16
               how was he a hypocrite?(nm) - escalade NWMSU - 2/11 12:14:52
                    Well for one, he wrote "all men are created equal" - MrBlueSky MU - 2/11 12:15:23
                         You should read the book too. Its time you - GA Tiger MU - 2/11 12:20:59
                         there it is... - escalade NWMSU - 2/11 12:20:44
                              Oh, he was just following the law in owning hundreds - MrBlueSky MU - 2/11 12:21:37
                                   RE: Oh, he was just following the law in owning hundreds - 90Tiger MU - 2/11 12:30:06
                                        I was responding to someone asking about what hypocrisy - MrBlueSky MU - 2/11 12:36:29
                                             then struggle away - they weren't viewed as the same - 90Tiger MU - 2/11 12:40:17
                                                  So then if a black man was not a man - MrBlueSky MU - 2/11 12:42:29
                                                       He was property, obviously - like a dog, a horse, or - 90Tiger MU - 2/11 12:53:04
                                                            The "property" distinction was made in the Dred Scott - MrBlueSky MU - 2/11 12:59:06
                                                                 no, it wasn't "made" in that decision, it was ruled to - 90Tiger MU - 2/11 14:34:05
                                   and they were all inherited... - escalade NWMSU - 2/11 12:22:11
                                        That's not true. He could have freed them while he was - MrBlueSky MU - 2/11 12:29:44
               Read "The Summer of 1787". Fantastic book that - GA Tiger MU - 2/11 12:14:47
                    Just ordered it for kindle. Nm - hokie VT - 2/11 12:41:41
                         Would like to know what you think of it.(nm) - GA Tiger MU - 2/11 13:02:22
          Yeah, I hope you didn't mean my boy Thomas, since - GA Tiger MU - 2/11 12:12:16
               you are clearly distantly removed(nm) - escalade NWMSU - 2/11 12:13:09
                    Surely not THAT clear. Unless you - GA Tiger MU - 2/11 12:20:23
     ONE - 90Tiger MU - 2/11 12:04:21
          TWO - 90Tiger MU - 2/11 12:04:47
               THREE - 90Tiger MU - 2/11 12:05:14
                    FOUR - 90Tiger MU - 2/11 12:05:38
                         GET YOUR WOMAN ON THE FLOOR - Badird MU - 2/11 12:22:41
                         FIVE - 90Tiger MU - 2/11 12:06:11




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