The government consists of a gang of men exactly like you and me. They have, taking one with another, no special talent for the business of government; they have only a talent for getting and holding office. Their principal device to that end is to search out groups who pant and pine for something they can’t get and to promise to give it to them. Nine times out of ten that promise is worth nothing. The tenth time is made good by looting A to satisfy B. In other words, government is a broker in pillage, and every election is sort of an advance auction sale of stolen goods.
– H. L. Mencken
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Samizdata slogan of the dayOctober 15th, 2003 |
 9 comments to Samizdata slogan of the day |
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One of my favorite Menckenisms! Here’s the thrilling conclusion:
“At each election we vote in a new set of politicians, insanely assuming that they are better than the set turned out. And at each election we are, as they say in Motherland, done in.”
And that was written when an incumbent’s chance of retaining his seat was a trifle lower than today.
Arnie’s gonna change it all… :o)
Very, very true…sadly. I wish only once i could find an honest politician to rule my country…(sighs)
Proudly, I like H. L. Mencken am from Baltimore, MD
Mencken had the misfortune of writing in the heyday of the statist ideologies, thus he was relegated to the role of “crusty curmudgeon who makes jokes about politics” instead of having anything he said taken as seriously as it needed to be.
Like Mark Twain before him, he pointed out some very distinct problems and corruptions in the body politic. Everybody chuckled, shook their head, and then went right back to constructing the next phase in the war to end all wars, or New Deal, or Arsenal of Democracy, or Cold War, or whatever new governmentally inspired emergency called for the expansion of the state and the dimunition of the individual and his rights.
There have been very few periods in human history during which the government was not comprised of whichever criminal gang had killed off all the competition, and therefore was ready to begin looting the population for all it could get.
The concept of a constitutionally limited, representative government was designed to prevent as much of that as possible, but the last half of the 19th and all of the 20th centuries were catastrophic for the concept of limited government, and so much damage has been done that it will take the best efforts of several generations to repair it.
It matters, therefore, that in each and every instance where the subject is government, those who believe in individual rights and strict limits on the powers of the state stand up and speak forcefully and well. Whether in a dorm, or at work, or in a classroom, or a bar, the courage to refuse the conventional wisdom that the state is the be all and end all is imperative to changing the terms of the debate.
Relentlessly, the question must be turned from “What should the government do for us now?”, to “How can we cut the government back and do for ourselves?”.
In the US, this is why we have mohair subsidies, and why we spend millions to discyourage smoking but still subsidize tobacco farmers.
There is no focused constituency for good government or for economic growth.
Finally, xander from honduras reminds me how trivial my problems really are.
On a more positive note, this article (on the Lawrence v. Texas case, by Randy E. Barnett) suggests some reason to hope that the trend of twentieth century could slow, or even reverse–though that seems like a lot to hope for:
“Contrary to what has been reported repeatedly in the press, the Court in Lawrence did not protect a ‘right of privacy.’ Rather, it protected ‘liberty’ — and without showing that the particular liberty in question is somehow ‘fundamental.'”
I’m no lawyer, but I read a law paper by Barnett on this subject and found it very informative about the history of regulation in the U.S.
There is a line in the last chapter of the GODFATHER movie trilogy that has stuck with me since I saw the movie. In the movie Al Pacino explains to his successor the following. QUOTE: Politics and crime are one and the same, the only difference is the criminal goes to jail for his activities while the politician becomes more rich and powerful: end of quote. It is unfortunate that we the average citizens of most free countries are not aware that politicians are not the purveyors of corruption and scandal, but it is a group of people all of which are very wealthy and powerful that are the purveyors of deceit. Most ordinary people dont know what they are called, but they are called the B.R.B. Back Room Boys. It is they who set the policies we must all live by, for it is they who finance the various candidates that run for political office and like all good lap dogs the politicians must follow their edicts and guidelines, if they hope to continue in a career of politics. We are led to beleive that the politicians act in the best interests of the electorate, a fallicy perpatrated on everyone of us. So we ask the question, what can we do about it? and the answer is simple, get involved, support the various groups who will challenge every dubious activity politicians are involved in. But mostly take the time to truly examine the person you will vote for, and dont vote along traditional party lines but vote for the man and not the party he or she may represent and then maybe just maybe we will bring a semblence of honesty in the people who represent our best interests. Lastly I have just read the new book THE POLITICIAN & THE B.R.B. and I beleive it to be the best read I have read in years. GOOD LUCK
When will people understand, that although they may be the voter who elects the candidate for political office as their reprentative and voice in government, he or she do not really do so. As in every gendre in life money talks and bullshit walks. Your reprentatives in government must do the following if they expect to survive in the party they are members of. first and foremost, it is their obligation to follow party lines, secondly the leaders of the various parties are nothing more than pawns of big business, thirdly money and power will, and does corrupt even the most idealist of people, fourth and most important of all not even the most outspoken person can have a true voice in the process of government, as if he becomes too outspoken he is relegated to the back benches where he is not allowed to express his point of view. However pathetic this comment may sound, it is the result of many years of being proactive about politics and political events and I still have not been able to find one good thing to say about any politician I have ever investigated. What can we do one would ask? Answer is nothing! as in every level of government, it is permiated with the most vile and dishonest people who only seek their own self serving interests and nothing else.