We all know politicians lie. Especially that other party, the one to which you don't belong. But the very language of political labeling is deliberately misleading, too. Here in the United States, we have two major parties that dominate political discourse: The Democrats and the Republicans. And everything about them both seems designed to deceive.
The Democrats claim to be the political left, the liberals, the progressives. However, when progress means more state power, I challenge the premise. The word liberal should mean one who promotes liberty, but the Democrats are always eager to impose new restrictions and mandates in opposition to choice and consent. The very term left refers to the French assembly seating where those in opposition to monarchial supremacy sat on the left side of the meeting hall. And how can a party claim to support democracy when their nominating conventions include Superdelegates who can overrule the will of the majority?
At this point, I assume self-professed left-wingers are already outraged, while right-wingers are feeling a sense of smug self-satisfaction. But I'm not done.
The Republicans represent the political right, the conservatives, the traditionalists. Or, at least, that's the claim. However, their traditions seem to be something besides restraint and respect for individual liberty, too. While the left is hypocritical in its condemnation of war while waging war, the right is hypocritical in its promotion of individualism while supporting a war machine designed to funnel wealth from the people into the coffers of corporate cronies, and collectively exterminate the subjects of foreign dictators as if they bear guilt by being ruled. The Republicans have utterly failed to restrain the growth of government bureaucracy and control, despite rhetoric filled with claims to promote individualism and free markets. And what is the virtue inherent in the idea of a Republic? Plato condemned it as a path to despotism, if memory serves. The Roman Republic certainly morphed into a despotic, decadent empire.
As another political campaign season rolls along through the trainwreck of AD 2020, we see two old white political and corporate insiders with histories of abuse of power and trains of sexual misconduct (to put it gently) left in their wakes, claiming the right to dictate to us how we shall live, and what they will do with our wealth and productivity. Choosing one or the other in this false dichotomy is presented as our civic responsibility. As a result, we get a ratchet effect as the government swings from left to right and back again, squeezing us to death.
If these past six months have not been enough to destroy your faith in the State, what will? When will you withdraw your support? How can you still claim there ever was any consent?
No, I cannot plan for society post-state. If I could, you should make me your king. But remember, the government is not society. Society functions in spite of the government, not because of it. Parasites never benefit the host, and government is not in a symbiotic relationship with us just because it hasn't killed us all yet.
Don't fall for the lies again.
