TMR: George Will: ‘Government Is Not Competent,' Florida Town Disbanding Police Force, Ron Paul’s LPAC Speech
Case of the Mondays? Prescription: Read The Morning Roar!George Will: ‘Government Is Not Competent'Fox News contributor and Pulitzer Prize winner George Will heavily criticized government during a panel discussion asking if government is going too far. In the past Will has equally disparaged both liberal and conservatives alike when opposing the drug war, affirmative action, warrantless surveillance, and the minimum wage.Any reasonable person would have to agree with Mr. Will’s statement that both Republican and Democratic administration have fostered incompetent governments. His reasoning as to why this occurs does not tell the entire story. Mr. Will claims that the government’s monopoly powers over the areas in which they intervene leads to an inefficient marketplace.The Daily Caller provided a transcript of the discussion:
Government is not competent. Frankly it’s not competent under Republicans or Democrats because it is always a monopoly and monopolies are not disciplined by market forces that are connected with reality. Teasing this segment, you asked “can we have faith in government?” I think we have much more to fear from excessive faith in government than from too little faith in government. You asked “can we trust the government to do its job?” What isn’t its job these days? I’ve just made a list. It’s fine-tuning the curriculum of our students k-12, monitoring sex on campuses, deciding how much ethanol we should put in our gas tanks, it’s designed our lightbulbs, and it’s worried sick over the name of the Washington football team. Now this is a government that doesn’t know when to stop.The distilled essence of progressivism is that government is benign, disinterested force, that’s false, and that it’s stuffed with expert, really gifted at doing things. Republicans do this also. Democrats do it on domestic policy. Republicans brought us nation building, regime change. A common theme is the excessive faith in the skills of government.
George Will is attempting to delegitimize government with a utilitarian argument. This can be a useful strategy at times, but it fails to address the immoral actions of a coercive government.It is not government’s monopoly per se that is the problem, but rather the threat of violence by government that forces individuals to live under a system not crafted by their consent. It is the threat of violence that discourages individuals from not paying their taxes and makes people obey the government’s man made laws that infringe upon natural rights.The monopoly powers government enjoys are a result of the hidden gun being held to the head of every citizen. Until we address the real issue - a government that operates without the consent of the governed - then we are destined live in a society that values force over reason and violence over logic.Florida Town Disbanding Police ForceIn the September 10th edition of The Morning Roar fellow contributor Marc Clair referenced a story about an insane amount of traffic tickets issued by the police force in the town Waldo, FL. The small town in Florida has issued 11,000 traffic tickets in one year. The town operated a speed trap nightmare on the small stretch of highway that runs through Waldo, FL that saw the speed limit change six times.Now the cops that ran the shakedown on the highway are going to pay for their sins.CBS News reports on the demise of Waldo’s police force.
The Waldo City Council on Tuesday voted 4-1 to eliminate the department just weeks after the chief and interim chief resigned because of state investigations into many issues, including an illegal ticket quota.City Manage Kim Worley told the Gainesville Sun that a Florida Department of Law Enforcement audit found many expensive computer and facilities fixes were needed, a cost the small town cannot afford.The move follows a revolt by five Waldo officers, who said that they were forced to meet an illegal ticket quota and that evidence was being stored improperly by the department's interim chief.As CBS News reported last month, Waldo's seven police officers wrote nearly 12,000 speeding tickets last year, collecting more than $400,000 in fines - a third of the town's revenue.
Slow clap for the Waldo City Council. Bravo for standing up and acting upon the wishes of the people.It is refreshing to see the people stand up to government corruption. But a story like this begs the question, what is the proper number of traffic tickets for a police department to issue? This small town had issued 11,000, but would the issue have been raised if they had only issued 5,000? 1,000? 500?Of course there is no magic number of traffic tickets for a police department to issue and there is little evidence supporting that speed traps and other such schemes make the roads in this country safer. More than 30,000 people die in motor vehicle deaths each year. It is time to have a conversation in this country about the management of the roads.Almost every roadway in this country is managed by some form of government monopoly, be it local, state, or federal. Private roadways would differ from public ownership because it would put the onus on the private owner to keep the roadway safe. If the owner wanted to do this by way of speed limits and speed traps that would be their choice. If an owner thought better lighting and wider lanes better serve travels on his road, then they would be free to try that as well. It is logical to have competition in the transportation market.Our society is far too advanced to excuse 30,000 people dying on this nation’s roads every year. It is time for a change.Ron Paul’s LPAC SpeechIt had been a long time since I’d watched a Ron Paul speech. Back in 2007, when I was first getting interested in the liberty movement I would stay up late into the night watching speech after speech from Dr. Paul.Ron’s speech at LPAC this year brought back memories of my early days in the liberty movement, as I was first starting to understand the principles of liberty. I don’t agree with everything Ron Paul says, but I’m more on board with his platform than any other current politician.Check Dr. Paul’s speech from LPAC where he rails against fiat currency, the Federal Reserve, attacks on civil liberties, war, and how the government uses these things to deprive us of our life, liberty, and happiness.Source: Ron Paul InstituteRead The Morning Roar every weekday Monday-Friday!The Lions of Liberty are on Twitter, Facebook & Google+Receive access to ALL of our EXCLUSIVE bonus audio content – including “Conspiracy Corner”, “Degenerate Gamblers” and the “League of Liberty Podcast” by joining the Lions of Liberty Pride and supporting us on Patreon!
