So old that it is often passed aside for consideration as a cliche, it still rings true as ever to my way of thinking. This quote from Jean-Pierre Proudhon that it is:
"To be governed is to be watched, inspected, spied upon, directed, law-driven, numbered, regulated, enrolled, indoctrinated, preached at, controlled, checked, estimated, valued, censured, commanded, by creatures who have neither the right nor the wisdom nor the virtue to do so. To be governed is to be at every operation, at every transaction noted, registered, counted, taxed, stamped, measured, numbered, assessed, licensed, authorised, admonished, prevented, forbidden, reformed, corrected, punished. It is, under pretext of public utility, and in the name of the public interest, to be placed under contribution, drilled, fleeced, exploited, monopolised, extorted from, squeezed, hoaxed, robbed; then, at the slightest resistance, the first word of complaint, to be repressed, fined, vilified, harassed, hunted down, abused, clubbed, disarmed, bound, choked, imprisoned, judged, condemned, shot, deported, sacrificed, sold, betrayed; and to crown all, mocked, ridiculed, derided, outraged, dishonoured. That is government; that is its justice; that is its morality. " - J.P. Proudhon
That rant I posted yesterday made me think of Proudhon's words yet again. Our village "governs" itself just fine actually, and we won't be any better off hiring cops. Every busybody, prude, buttinsky, and scold will look to the Village Council and its cops to enact their every notion, thought, fancy and whim into law and prohibit, regulate, tax, and outlaw whatever it is that they don't like or approve of. They'll find a pretense or cause for everything that ever happens, did happen or could happen, and propose a "legal remedy" for it, and along with a schedule of fees and fines to make it turn a profit for the village and of course men with guns to back it up.
If someone has a faulty electric outlet or forgets to turn the flame off a stove burner and burns their kitchen up, why then, the buttinskys will no doubt say, we need to require by law, a smoke detector for every room and fire extinguishers as well. And how will we know people are complying? The village ordinance compliance officer can go to each home and inspect it. And what if the home resident doesn't want to comply or admit the OCO? She can then call the Village Cops to make them admit her, crashing the door in if need be, eh? This is totally insane. Prudent people will do the smart thing (as they see it anyhow) whether it's the law or not; and the feckless and shortsighted won't. And all the laws and cops won't matter one damn bit.
If we are stupid enough to step into this quagmire, how the hell will we ever get out again? Something to think about folks.
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