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Government: Are they the new mafia?
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Originally Posted by Master Shake
I think you are assuming that the government is somehow superior to common criminals. I don't make this assumption, and I don't believe that the government is looking out for our best interests. I have always seen the government as a better organized version of the mafia. They demand protection money (taxes) or else they burn your business down (or throw you in jail). I wouldn't recognize the authority of the mafia to put me to death for whatever reason, and I wouldn't recognize the authority of the government to put me to death.
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But the government IS superior to common criminals. It's not like the government just takes our taxes; even on an assumption of minimal government, we pay taxes so that the government can provide us with services which we could not provide ourselves. Someone has to provide roads, for example, and roads work a lot better if someone's overseeing the whole thing and making sure they all connect. I'm not trying to say that the government necessarily has my best interests in mind, but they're not simply out to get me, either. You get at least some use from the taxes you pay, even if some of those taxes go to services which you happen not to use (welfare's probably a decent example of this).
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"Die Deutschen meinen, daß die Kraft sich in Härte und Grausamkeit offenbaren müsse, sie unterwerfen sich dann gerne und mit Bewunderung:[...]. Daß es Kraft giebt in der Milde und Stille, das glauben sie nicht leicht."
"The Germans believe that power must reveal itself in hardness and cruelty and then submit themselves gladly and with admiration[...]. They do not believe readily that there is power in meekness and calm."
-- Friedrich Nietzsche
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