Robert Higgs argues that the psychological origin of government is fear:
To disregard fear is to place ourselves in possibly mortal jeopardy. Even the man who acts heroically on the battlefield, if he is honest, admits that he is scared. To tell people not to be afraid is to give them advice that they cannot take. Our evolved physiological makeup disposes us to fear all sorts of actual and potential threats, even those that exist only in our imagination.
The people who have the effrontery to rule us, who call themselves our government, understand this basic fact of human nature. They exploit it, and they cultivate it. Whether they compose a warfare state or a welfare state, they depend on it to secure popular submission, compliance with official dictates, and, on some occasions, affirmative cooperation with the state’s enterprises and adventures. Without popular fear, no government could endure more than twenty-four hours. David Hume taught that all government rests on public opinion, but that opinion, I maintain, is not the bedrock of government. Public opinion itself rests on something deeper: fear. [emphasis added]
Or as H.L. Mencken famously (over)stated:
The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.
Hat tip: Mahalanobis
Friday, June 03, 2005
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6 comments:
There's good reason to fear anarchy, and that would be the result if there were no government.
Very true. Disbanding government entirely would be disasterous.
entirely being the key word. Some 95% of everything the modern welfare state does is completely superfluous and morally (and, in the US, constitutionally) unjustifiable.
Count me in the "less government is more" catagory.
Of course, if we really want to end the walfare state mentality, it will require the Church doing a much better job in caring for the poor, something most churches see as a side item or an add on.
In other words, this self-absorbed individualistic brand of Christianity we've developed on both sides of the theological spectrum has given the politicians an avenue for causing fear and taking power.
As a church, we've definately failed to show sufficient concern for the poor and needy. Instead of new buildings and 'mission' trips to Cancun, we must focus on the earthly work of the Kingdom.
Interesting, very interesting i agree. i have always been told that i am wrong, but it is raw fear that makes us do what we do.
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