Good evening, Frank! Now you see why Robert and I have been talking about an incremental approach to liberty rather than trying for it all at once. If you tell people that you want to get rid of all government except the Criminal Justice System and whoever builds/maintains the roads and highways, most people will refuse to vote for you because EVERYONE will have at least one department that they consider crucial and will be willing to accept all the others as the price of keeping their one.
Then, of course, there are all the "welfare" depts. that you will get demagogued on: "How uncaring can you be, to want to eliminate the Commission for the Blind?" So, you're going to have to go after each one individually, on their merits, and in some cases, you'll have to demonstrate that the replacement can work. Lowell C. Savage It's the freedom, stupid! Gun control: tyrants' tool, fools' folly. -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Frank Reichert Sent: Tuesday, November 30, 2004 8:26 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Which one is for smaller government again? Good evening Travis! Travis Pahl wrote in response to Robert Goodman... I guess, Robert Goodman wrote: > > I'm saying the federal gov't would "shut down" again (operate under some > > emergency bills to keep necessary offices open), To which, you replied: > Which is a great demonstration to people that most things are not necessary. A collegue of mine here in Idaho wrote me during the 2000 campaign and gave me some advise to give to potential voters. At that time I was running for the District I State Senate seat. Here was his advise: Pick any large city in Idaho, Boise, Pocatello, Twin Falls. Get a telephone directory and look up all agencies in the yellow pages under Idaho State Government. Pick and choose which agencies are really important to you. Which of these agencies would you choose to fund with your own money by voluntary contribution? Well, I did that. I picked up the Coeur d'Alene telephone directory, and got a bundle of, or rather armfull of Idaho State agencies. Guess what? Outside of the local county Sheriff, the state court system (which is usually as corrupt as hell), and perhaps the Highway Department (Idaho Transpaortation Department), I couldn't find one other damn agency of State Government that I would voluntarily support with my own contribution if I had the choice in doing so! Maybe the problem is this. Maybe people really do enjoy the High School basketball games, and so, want to keep public government controlled education around just for the games, although, overall, public education in Idaho is certainly the most expensive item on the State tax budget. Not trying to be facitious here at all. Only suggesting that in the minds of most people, smaller government isn't probably an option at all. It's the 'status quo'. In Idaho that happens to be the GOP! In Massachusetts, that happens to be largely the Democrats. It seems to me, that most Americans, wherever they are, won't take the time to even try. To pick up the phonebook, and look at the agencies of Government, whether Local, State or Federal, and decide which agencies out there, they would be willing to contribute to, if they had such a choice. And, as my collegue reminded me, until they do that, smaller government is most likely not on their agenda of priorities! That's really sad. But even at the local level here, that seems to be something after all. It's all about community spirit -- supporting the 'community effort', etc. A lot of people these days see things this way. What's really important to THIS community? Are you a 'community player' -- will you play the game for the better good? Yes. This is socialism by design. And you might not be surprised, but a lot of people buy into this argument lock, stock and barrel. That's why Libertarians don't win at the election polls. The contrast in all of this is that it certainly appears that people WILL vote for issues in which they normally would not contribute to, for the sake of becoming a part of the community that cares! And I know, most people don't think through most of this very methodically either. A lot of the votes are a 'community effort', or so it seems, to be a part of something, or otherwise be ostricized from that very community. Socialogically, that seems to be the explanttion as to why most Americans do not vote for smaller government these days. Kindest regards, Frank _______________________________________________ Libnw mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] List info and subscriber options: http://immosys.com/mailman/listinfo/libnw Archives: http://immosys.com/mailman//pipermail/libnw _______________________________________________ Libnw mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] List info and subscriber options: http://immosys.com/mailman/listinfo/libnw Archives: http://immosys.com/mailman//pipermail/libnw
