Thursday, May 27, 2010

Wrong tool for the job

When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

Americans have always been these independent, can-do folks. Creative. Whatever it takes. But more recently I see an America in which the Government will take care of it for you. Homeless folks? The Salvation Army could help. Or an inner city church mission. But most expect the Government to handle it. The Government is there to handle everything, from responding to a natural disaster to deciding what kind of light bulb I should buy. For many, the first response to any and every societal issue is for the government to fix it.

But there are only a few things the Government is really good at. People have natural gifting. One has a knack for brightening another's day. Another is just the person to get something done. Government's natural gifting is to force people to do things they don't want to do. Government is about law. The legislative branch makes laws. The judicial branch makes judgment calls on disputes over gray areas in the law. The executive branch carries out the law.

So consider what a law is: a mechanism to force people to do what they otherwise would not do except for the threat of fine, imprisonment or death.

Government is fundamentally coercive by nature. If people behave in the desired manner without the threat of force, no law is necessary. Others such as artists, authors, educators and preachers change public behavior by changing thinking and values. Then people freely change behaviors based on their beliefs. The Government solution is much more heavy handed. And it's just the right tool for some cases. It's not acceptable to shoot your neighbor if his loud music annoys you. So we make that illegal with a stiff penalty. But it's the wrong tool for so, so many things.

Every single law that is passed removes some liberty from someone. Most laws remove some liberty from everyone. Every law. Every law is coercive. Forced behavior modification. It's like spanking - effective but to be used sparingly. Government is not the right tool for every job.

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