Ronald Reagan is famously quoted assaying, "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'" As far as it goes, the sentiment expressed in the quote is probably correct, although undoubtedly there are other terrifying phrases as well. Such as, "You have an incurable disease." Even there, though, at least in America, you can shop around for other tests and other medical treatments. Of course, that may end under the iron control of the Obamacare's IPAB after 2014. Another example is "Your money or your life." This phrase announces to you that you are in immediate peril. In most cases, the assailant will be satisfied when you turn over your possessions. Of course, police protection may be available to protect you from an assailant as well. Most criminals are obviously aware of this and typically act where police aren't; after all, there is truth in the adage, "when seconds count, police are just minutes away." In some places in America, where your Constitutional right to bear arms has not yet been abrogated or denied by law, you may even choose to defend yourself from an assailant.
On the other hand, when the government comes to "help," you don't really have a choice. You don't have a choice about how much help you will get, how long you will get it, what you will have to do, or how long you will have to do it. And you don't get to decide the goals the government is helping you to achieve, either. Now, that's all good and well when you can trust your government, when their intentions and their goals are agreeable and beneficial.
Words, however, have slippery meanings, and intentions are not always what they seem. In America, for example, Judges are sworn to uphold the Constitution, but long ago announced that the Constitution is a "tissue paper bastion." They change it as often as they desire, by "interpretation," and there is no recourse by the people. This is how government "help" goes too far - and goes wrong: although the people themselves established the Constitution, the Courts have fabricated for themselves the right to interpret it, oversee it, and control its application. None of that is in the Constitution.
In the past, when governments have gone wrong, citizens discerning the onrushing catastrophe have had some opportunity to go elsewhere and avoid it. Albert Einstein, a scientist and Jew born in Germany, emigrated to the United States in 1933, as the National Socialist (NAZI) Party rose to power. Thousands of other Jews likewise fled.
Many starry-eyed idealists are pushing to expand the role, power, and reach of government today, dreaming of an impossibly benign world-wide government, the ballyhooed New World Order, which will solve all the world's conflicts and problems while at the same time never interfering with one's desires or activities. Good luck with that. Even today, where the United Nations is working to grow into the role of world governing agency, government "help" comes with a price.
In Haiti, UN peacekeepers came in to help after the earthquake. A major outbreak of a serious and virulent form of cholera coincided with their arrival. Now, scientists are saying that the strand of cholera came from Nepal with the Nepalese peacekeeper contingent and has never been seen in the Western Hemisphere. The UN's response? According to Asst. Secretary General Anthony Banbury, "The scientists say it can't be determined for certainty where it came from." Actually, Mr. Banbury, they did; you won't admit the truth. And then there are allegations of rape by Peacekeeper forces. The government is here to "help" indeed.
As the power of the world governing body grows, abuses of government "help" will without doubt become more common, and more terrifying. And should world government come, citizens can't leave- there will be nowhere to go. These words won't just be the most terrifying in the English language.
0 comments:
Post a Comment