40 years ago, I bought my first computer. It was 1985, and I was delighted that I could write something, store it on a little disc, and retrieve it by clicking a button. I had been writing for most of my life already, and had columns in a few major newspapers such as in Phoenix, where I wrote one a week, plus others. I love to write, but to be able to retrieve what I had written, and correct it or easily send it out, was marvelous. I decided to write a book, since I had opinions about just about everything, and I do. It had 89 chapters, and 353 pages. It did so well that I re-printed it four times, and I think the printer probably still has the plates to reprint it again. At any rate, I was looking through it, and I discovered that chapter 20, titled as the head of this, so I decided to reprint it word for word with my ideas close to 40 years ago. The following is word for word, with nothing changed or rewritten. It seems ever so appropriate now!
“A long time ago, a mythical community was totally free. It had virtually no taxes, a tiny government, and everyone prospered. and was happy.
“Eventually, it was observed there were some people in the community, which had less than others. They were poor. A vote was taken to increase taxes to build housing for these poor people. It would only add a few cents to each tax bill. There were vigorous objections by some in the community, who warned that it was not the job of government to care for anyone, only to protect them. The public housing issue barely passed. It was then discovered that these poor people were hungry. Food stamps were passed out, so they wouldn’t starve. It only cost a few cents tax increase for each person. These same people, as before, strenuously objected, saying that things were getting out of hand, poor people had always existed, and the best remedy for hunger and homelessness, was work, pointing out the low paying jobs that were continuously advertised in the local paper. The objectors lost again, and taxes were raised a few more cents. Then it was discovered that the poor had no money to pay for doctor bills, so the voters again raised taxes a few cents for each citizen, to pay for the poor people’s doctor bills. The objectors howled that it was becoming very profitable to be poor! They were drowned out in the clamor that said ”surely we can afford to care for those less fortunate than others, since it will only cost a few cents each.”
“The once tiny government had grown very large, and was constructing new buildings, to administer all these benefits and collect all the taxes.Lots of government employees were now on what had become known as: ”the public payroll.”
“Then it was discovered, that some of the elderly were poor, because they hadn’t saved for their old age, and were profligate. Another vote was taken to increase taxes a whopping 15%, to pay for old age care. The same protesters objected again and again, but to no avail. The 15% increase passed. Crime, by this time, had risen appreciably, and the protesters said this was because it wasn’t necessary to care for yourself any more, or to work: “Government” did it for you. More prisons and courtrooms had to be built, and more police and prison guards hired.
“Then the farmers decided they wanted a piece of the action, and complained that they weren’t making any money. Interest rates were too high, taxes were too high, and they needed help. By this time, no vote was needed, as government had grown so big, it did just as it wanted, and raised taxes as it pleased. More taxes for the better off, harder working populace, and little or none for the untalented or lazy. The farmers got their subsidies, and food prices went up. With all the lopsided subsidies to farmers, there was too much of one kind of food, and too little of another. Government bought what there was too much of, set minimum prices on what there was too little of, built large storehouses to store the extra food, and hired more employees to decide what foods needed to be subsidized. Government employees, were by then known as: ”bureaucrats,” and their numbers grew greatly.
“Government then decided regulations were needed, to restrict what could be broadcast over the newly invented radio and television, and who was to be allowed to do the broadcasting. Government also decided that the poor were being treated unfairly, so it was decided to make laws setting minimum wages and fair treatment. Crime increased and unemployment increased, especially among the poor, who were supposed to be helped.
“So the government had to increase subsidies, food stamps, and housing allowances. Taxes, of course, went up. Government had become so large by this time, that people who wanted something…anything…went to the government, and usually got it. Taxes went up again. Government decided that it should regulate what types of signs businessmen could erect, what their buildings should contain, what they could sell, how much they should charge, and how much profit was “fair.” Government then decided to tell farmers what to grow, how much they could sell it for, how many acres they could till, and what types of fertilizer and insecticides they could use. Government then decided that it should tell landowners what they could do with their land, and hired many planners to oversea this monumental project. All this, of course, was deemed to be “for the public good.”
“Government then decided that some factories were not safe, and it began telling manufacturers what sizes and shapes of their tools, products, and factories could be. Even the stairs and bathrooms in their factories, came under regulation. Inspectors came regularly, and didn’t even have to knock to gain entrance to inspect the businesses. Bribes and payoffs were common, to avoid the harsh hand of the bureaucracy. Government decided that more highways were needed, so taxes were raised again, to build multi-lane “freeways,” as they came to be called. The road builders took whatever land they wanted, and cut through neighborhoods and parks with their superhighways. Mass transit operators, who had rail systems and bus lines, threw up their hands and went bankrupt right and left, over the unfair competition. Government took their properties, raised taxes again, and ran the systems at huge losses. The air became polluted because of the freeways, but government decided the cause wasn’t the millions of cars, but the crooked businessman who furnished the electricity. They were forced to install “anti-pollution” devices on their generating plants. It was decided to build more freeways, so motorists wouldn’t have to sit in traffic with idling motors. But the more freeways built, the more cars were bought, and the air kept getting worse and worse.
“By this time, not only was the air un-breathable, but crime was enormous, medical costs were out of range of most, interest rates were quadruple what they had been 50 years before, and life in general was miserable. The politicians had discovered that the less intelligent the voter, the better chance they had of keeping their plush jobs in government. They regularly went about getting everyone they could, to register to vote, even those who couldn’t read, telling them that it was their ‘patriotic’ duty to vote. Nothing was more important than for everyone to vote! “It doesn’t matter who you vote for, but vote!” was the slogan. So politicians kept their offices and high salaries, voting for more government, and more promises for these newly registered voters. As the number of voters increased, usually from poor or semi-literate population sectors, the quality of politicians went down, until it was a commonly understood fact, that the politician handing out the most from the government treasury was sure to be elected. Taxes kept going up, of course.
“Occasionally, the citizen voters became upset at the taxes, so the politicians quickly voted in various “tax cuts” into law, which were really tax raises, but the language was so cleverly worded, that people thought they were being handed yet another freebie from government. By now, government was regarded by most, as a source of wealth, which politicians could tap, by merely passing more laws or hiring more government employees to dispense the “wealth.” No one thought for a moment, that government couldn’t create wealth. After all, government takes care of us and prints all the money, so all it has to do is pass it out, and my senator will see to it that I get my fair share, because I am (1) old, (2) minority, (3) sick, (4) insane, (5) female, (6) homosexual, (7) middle income, (8) fat, (9) skinny, (10) have Aids, (11) member of a union, (12) other.
“Finally, government got so big and overpowering, everyone was sick of it, only no one knew how to stop it. It was as if it had its own life system that came from some horror movie. The more people tried to stop it, the bigger it got. Government bureaucrats were everywhere, meddling in everyone’s business and telling them what to do; for their own good of course. But people were tired of it. The voters voted for politicians who promised to rein in government, but it just kept growing. It fed upon itself, and there was no known way to stop it. It just grew, printing money as it went, paying itself, and telling more and more people, more and more things to do, how much to do, how long they could do it, how it must be done, and how much they had to pay government to care for them.
“The little community had blossomed into a dragon-like monster, eating everything in its path, and unhappiness was on everyone’s face. Everyone talked about how to stop government, and they kept voting for politicians who didn’t slow government expansion. I was a lost cause, so everyone decided just to live with it. The little community had grown into a large, impoverished land, which now bought its cars, watches, TV sets, cameras, and other things from other lands. Fear was on the faces of the citizens, because they knew that if they got sick, they would be unable to pay for their medical bills, and medical insurance was already un-affordable, since government had taken over health care.
“The citizens got to taking drugs and disobeying laws, because they were so silly. Government held out shallow hopes of riches, by starting government lotteries, complete with flashy advertising, so the poorest could waste their money on false hopes of riches. Each week, a new millionaire was put on TV, and had their pictures taken, so the hope of undeserved riches could be kept in front of the poorest folk, who kept hoping against hope. Occasionally, some private person would start their own lottery, guaranteeing a higher return and the entire winning at once, rather than over twenty years with no interest. They were thrown into jail by the government. Now and then, a brilliant scientist discovered a new cure for a disease, and he tried to sell it without waiting eight years for the government to approve it, and he went to jail. Once in a while, a businessman would forget one of the government’s thousands of laws, and he would disobey and go to jail. Government could now break into people’s homes without warning and take evidence of real or imagined “crimes,” and those people would go to jail. Many accidents happened, because of all the shortages, and people took a lot of short cuts to stay alive and ahead of the government agents. They would go to jail if they were caught.
“The government had made it difficult to live, because it had its own secret police to ferret out anyone not paying their ‘full share’ of the ruinous taxes government laid on the citizens. This secret police became known as the IRS, and it could take everything a citizen owned, break into his home, sell it from under him, and destroy anyone they chose to hurt. This was to keep the citizens in constant fear of the government, which had helped them so much. The government had printed so much money, that it had lost its value over the years, and those who had saved for their old age, had lost their savings through a process known as “inflation,” which was basically government printing money to pay the bills, for helping everyone so much. There were hidden taxes on everything. Such as food, gas, wages, profits, beverages, cars, appliances, clothes, and even telephone calls. Everything had lots of hidden taxes. Hundreds of taxes which, no one even knew about were on all the things a person had to have to barely exist. It became illegal to own a gun to protect yourself, and illegal to do just about anything, which was not in the narrow guidelines set by government. Occasionally, a man or woman would protest and print something, telling everyone how big and unruly government had gotten, but the possibility of overthrowing it was remote. Too many people were indebted to government for their job, a handout, or a check every month, and they wouldn’t want to ‘rock the boat’ which was keeping them afloat, even though their flotation, was of the most meager type.
“Some pointed out that ancient Rome fell, because of massive welfare, massive government, massive corruption, and massive waste, coupled with outrageous tributes, which were what they called ‘taxes,’ back then. Eventually, a large percentage of the citizens couldn’t read, because government schools didn’t teach, and those that could read, didn’t do it very much. Most people had become totally unthinking robotic types of voters, who went to work every day, came home at night, and watched inane TV, never even thinking about issues or problems. Others, who tried to think about issues, had been warped in their thinking by their former teachers and professors who, being on the government’s payroll, were against individualism and free thought. Judges mostly ruled against those who would try to change things, because they were also on the payroll of the government, and they didn’t want to lose their jobs of judging, by finding against the government, or for a protester or thinker.
“While the little community had become a monster of virtual slavery and total government, the rest of the world seemed to be much worse! Other countries had higher taxes, more severe government, dictatorships, monarchies, and even slavery! The entire world seemed to some, to be descending into a total darkness of government, government, government. Everyone seemed to be getting poorer, more enslaved, un-healthy, and very sad.
“The only bright spots were from a few little nations who had recently thrown off of a most severe government, called communism. They were starting afresh, with virtually no government, but unfortunately they seemed to be copying the already degraded lands that had oppressive, all-powerful governments, which was every land on the Earth. As this closes, we all hope these tiny little countries which have recently thrown off the yoke of total government, will not fall prey to it again, as out little mythical little land has done…and every other land on Earth.”
-Don Stott. don@coloradogold.com