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Worshipping At The Government Altar

by Theresa Fritz Camoriano

On any given day, we can pick up the newspaper and see many problems caused by government corruption, arrogance, and ineffectiveness.  One article tells us that the government education system is failing to do a good job educating children.  Another says that the government is failing to protect children from abuse.  Still another indicates that the government agency that was supposed to oversee mine safety ignored warnings until a dike burst and caused tremendous damage to the surrounding area.  While the subject matter of the articles in the newspaper changes from one day to the next, it continues to provide overwhelming evidence that government is not doing a good job with most of the tasks it has been assigned. 

But, mysteriously, the same people who regularly point out all these shortcomings of government also always propose that the solution to these problems is more government!  Huh?  If the government is failing to do its current jobs properly due to corruption, arrogance, and ineffectiveness, it takes a real leap of faith to believe that the situation will be improved with more of the same.  But, to those who worship at the altar of government, such unquestioning leaps of faith are the norm.

This reminds me of an alcoholic, who, upon waking up with a hangover, believes that what will really make him feel better is a good, stiff drink!  We all realize that the alcoholic is being irrational. We realize that alcohol was the cause of his hangover, and more alcohol will only make matters worse.  So why do otherwise intelligent people continually make the irrational, great leap of faith required to believe that government corruption, arrogance, and ineffectiveness will be cured with more government? 

Why do they approach the issue of government power with such childlike faith?  Do they think government is God – that it will take care of them so they don’t have to take care of themselves?  Do they think government is their mommy or daddy – there to protect and comfort them against all the bad things in the world?  Do they think that the people working inside the government are miraculously more wise and less selfish than the rest of us?  Why can’t they open their eyes and see the reality?

The reality is that, not only are people within the government not more virtuous than the rest of us; they frequently are much less virtuous, being attracted by the power, easy money, and lack of accountability that government offers.  While, in private business, we eventually have to be productive and serve customers in order to keep our jobs, in the government, you just have to keep fooling most of the people most of the time in order to keep feeding at the public trough.  While there are some very bright, dedicated people within the government, there are also many of a different stripe. 

Consider this:  Would you rather trust your investments to your local banker or to Wallace Wilkinson?  Would you rather trust your daughter with the neighborhood babysitter or with Bill Clinton?  Do you think you will get more real productive work from your lawn care service provider or from your alderman?  No -- government workers are no more saints than the rest of us, but, because they have the power of the government's guns behind them, they have a lot more power and therefore can do a lot more harm than the rest of us.

We have to stop treating government as if it were God or as if it were our mommy or daddy and begin to see it for what it really is.  Government is nothing more or less than the legalized use of force in society.  While force is a good tool to use against a bully who threatens to beat us up, it is not an effective tool for solving most of society’s problems. 

If we see that government “help” for poor people causes the breakup of families, a large increase in illegitimate births, and a breakdown of society, even the dreamers among us should stop and think that maybe this “help” is actually very harmful.  If we see that the war on drugs actually makes our streets more dangerous, encourages corruption, and provides excuses for SWAT teams to barge into the homes of innocent people in the middle of the night, then isn't it time for us to stop and rethink our assumptions?  If we see that government regulators and inspectors, who are charged with the task of protecting the public, actually behave as if they were part of a Mafia protection racket, reality should begin to sink in. 

We cannot afford to continue operating on blind faith in government, believing that, whenever we have a problem, big brother will solve it for us.  It’s time for us to shed our childlike innocent belief in government as God or government as mommy and daddy and begin to see it for what it really is – a blunt instrument with limited usefulness.