I'll start my first substantive post by linking to a great recent article by Steven Greenhut, entitled "Trying to Reform Government Is Largely a Waste of Time." The title really says it all, and echoes a lot of what you hear discussed in Washington.
Everything is reform this, reform that, eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse, etc. Everyone wants to focus on making government efficient, which is pointless. As Greenhut says, "government is a vast force-based enterprise designed to take as much money from the public and give as much of it as possible to the clients of government."
Everything the state [NB: I prefer "state" to "government," perhaps the subject of a future post] has is taken by force, everything it does relies on the threat of force, so why do we want it to be more efficient in applying that force? The right thing to do is to reduce the scope of the state, especially at the federal level, but also at the state and local levels. Focusing on efficiency ignores and obscures the nature of the state and distracts attention away from substantive matters.
Discussion of efficiency and reform focuses on marginal issues and making marginal improvements. People get irate that the federal government spends a hundred thousand dollars to find the perfect Christmas tree but then don't bat an eye when it spends a hundred billion dollars to make war. But getting people focused on these picayune little details gets them fired up. They get vocal, they donate money to political campaigns and activist groups, and they ignore the big issues facing this country.
From the perspective of the average politician, it's relatively costless. You can sacrifice a few minuscule programs, divert attention from the big picture, and gain a reputation as a reformer or a fiscal hawk. What's not to like? Just look at budget "cuts" that don't actually cut spending, just the projected rate of growth.
I've never seen "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," but every time I hear some Congressman get up there and talk about reform, or hear someone campaigning to "clean up Washington," I think about Mr. Smith. That movie was filmed in 1939 and here we are almost 75 years later still talking about reforming and fixing Washington. It really is a great theme for the Establishment to keep dragging in front of us in order to distract us from what's really going on. Everybody talks earnestly about reform, but nothing ever gets done. "Washington is broken." Uh huh, what else is new? "Washington is more divided than ever." Oh really? "If we just adopt X program, then everything will work again." Yeah, right, we've heard that one a few dozen times before, and guess what: we're in the same mess. Imagine that?
Nothing will change because no one is serious about real change. Where's the next Ron Paul? Dr. Paul spent years lecturing America about what was wrong, and did anyone ever listen? No, at least, no one in a position to do anything about anything. There are too many people invested in the status quo. They want the federal government involved in areas that they care about. Most on the left want the government to provide health care, welfare, and a safety net. Those on the right want a strong military to engage in endless foreign wars. And both sides want a strong police state at home (which they in their ignorance think will never ensnare them, only those they disagree with.) I realize that the left/right paradigm is not terribly accurate, but I'll use it here just for the sake of argument.
In short, I don't have high hopes for this country. I think Ron Paul has done a great job in waking up young people, but the message needs to be carried on. I know that he'll continue with his websites, foundations, and speaking tours, but where he really shined was in using his position as a Congressman as a bully pulpit for the cause of freedom. I don't see anyone in Congress stepping into his shoes in the immediate future.
It's a shame, really, because he more than anyone never missed the forest for the trees. End the Fed, end the wars, end the welfare state. Yeah, they're big projects and they'll cause a lot of upheaval, but that's the only thing that will save this country from an even worse fate. We need abolition, not reform.
