By MN Gordon
Standing In Your Way
Governments across the planet will go to any length to meddle in the lives and private affairs of their citizens. This is what our experiences and observations have shown. What gives?
For one, politicians have an aversion to freedom and liberty. They want to control your behavior, choices, and decisions. What’s more, they want to use your money to do so.
As this by now famous cartoon implies, the State is essentially a gang of criminals waving a flag. We realize that most people have a far more romantic and naïve view of the nature of the State. Some have even swallowed the propaganda slogan asserting that ”we” are the State (hint: no, “we” are not). The misguided belief that it can be reformed if only the right people come to power (you just have to elect them!) is as widespread as is the erroneous notion that it is a “necessary evil” that protects us from the imminent outbreak of uncontrollable chaos its absence would provoke. Think of the children! States were originally established when gangs of thieving, raping and murdering marauders realized that killing their victims after a raid was actually not the most economic decision; it was far better to enslave them by instituting a protection racket. Essentially the deal went: you let us rule over you and pay us protection money, and in exchange we will protect you against all those gangs of marauders out there greedily eying your possessions, including ourselves. This basic structure of the State has never changed, but it has of course become a lot more sophisticated. This increased sophistication has made the State more tolerable to the average serf, but that is not its main aim – rather the aim is to ensure its survival. [PT]
Here in the United States, bureaucrats, flush with authority, will stand in the way of a fellow who’s striving to find his own way by his own means. Licenses, permits, fees, employer identification numbers, state board of equalization registrations, workers compensation insurance… you name it. All this – and more – is needed prior to hanging out your shingle and making your first sale.
Many cities in the land of the free require school kids to get a permit just to operate a lemonade stand. And don’t even think of opening an auto shop, let alone a medical practice. You’ll spend your first year’s profits getting your hazardous materials business plan approved by the fire department.
What a waste of time and resources so you can store a couple tanks of oil and gas and keep a couple waste drums to put the dirty rags in. Does all this rigmarole make you safer?
After that, your time will be spent keeping up the requisite documentation and reporting. Actually acquiring and serving customers will be secondary. Then, after paying federal, state, and local taxes, you’ll be left with less money than if you’d just kept your day job. Why bother with the risk if there’s no reward?
The US …read more
Source:: Acting Man
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