There is great joy in the library world over the American Rescue Plan of 2021, because part of the pork includes a few scraps for the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Libraries by and large are reliant upon taxation, and there is a definite sense of entitlement in the library community. People who oppose property tax increases especially are viewed as a threat to our service.
Education is another hot-button issue. While I agree that everyone has a right to seek education, I disagree strongly with the conclusion that this means we need taxpayer-funded, government-monopolized schools in the Prussian model. The entitlement in education dwarfs that of libraries. The voters in one nearby school district declined to accept a new levy, and the school district response was, "Well, you voted wrong. Get ready to vote again, and GET IT RIGHT THIS TIME!"
Prof CJ of the Dangerous History Podcast recently delved into the history of government schools, and some truly disturbing sentiments from its proponents. The results of government schools are less than impressive, and the number of high school graduates who enter the local community college in need of remedial English and Mathematics classes is astonishing. It's one thing for non-traditional students to need a refresher course on a subject they have not used in many years, but if you have a high school diploma, you should know basic algebra.
After just a year of COVID lockdowns, many people are already living their lives in anticipation of "stimulus checks" as though the State can rain down manna from heaven.No one seems to see the reality behind the rhetoric. Spending on "COVID relief" is astronomical, and it is funded by debt and inflation that will haunt us even longer than the ripple effects of the lockdowns themselves.
"The bad economist sees only what immediately strikes the eye; the good economist also looks beyond. The bad economist sees only the direct consequences of a proposed course; the good economist looks also at the longer and indirect consequences."
- Henry Hazlitt, Economics in One Lesson (1946)
How many services which you value rely on extortion as a funding model? How sustainable is it really to demand government funding for, and monopolization of, everything in society? Why is there an ingrained assumption that rejection of government monopoly is rejection of the service altogether?
"We disapprove of state education. Then the socialists say that we are opposed to any education. We object to a state religion. Then the socialists say that we want no religion at all. We object to a state-enforced equality. Then they say that we are against equality. And so on, and so on. It is as if the socialists were to accuse us of not wanting persons to eat because we do not want the state to raise grain."
- Frédéric Bastiat, The Law (1850)
The government has no incentive to help us become more free or teach how to throw off their chains. They want us to embrace those chains as if they are a lifeline instead. People are suckered into believing there can be a net benefit from systemic political plunder. Society has been pushed toward some perverse blend of battered woman syndrome and Stockholm syndrome.
I don't know what our solution is, but the problem is right in front of our eyes every day, hidden under a veneer of patriotic or progressive propaganda depending on who is trying to lure you into the system. Monopolies promote waste and abuse, and government with its extortion schemes for everything from wages to purchases to land and everything in between magnifies these flaws while supporting the corporate cartels that continue to exploit us in other ways as well.
“And this mess is so big
And so deep and so tall,
We cannot pick it up.
There is no way at all!”
- Dr. Seuss, The Cat in the Hat (1957)
Instead of trying to vote our way out, maybe it's time to reassess our strategies. What schools taught us to do has not worked. Our political saviors are false messiahs. Do what you can to reduce your dependence on the State, and ensure you have a plan if the house of cards comes tumbling down. Crypto, precious metals, tools, seeds, guns, ammunition, trade goods, practical skills, first aid, CPR... there are so many things you can pursue to make yourself more independent.
It takes work, though, and the siren song of the State promises if you just let them take what they want, they will give you what you need. It sounds so easy, especially if school has taught you that our rulers are benevolent and wise. But those lies are the lessons they teach best, and for good reason. You are entitled to liberty, so exercise that, with or without their permission.