Why We Need A Libertarian Government

The government response to the death and destruction of Hurricane Katrina has painted a very graphic image as to why we need a Libertarian form of government.

For those of you who do not know or have not heard, Libertarians believe that less government is the only way to run a country. Libertarians also believe that no one has the right to initiate force on or against any human being. Initiation of force does not simply refer to making war, but forcing people to behave in a certain way, or forcing someone to pay taxes that they do not want to pay. If you do not believe me, try not paying your taxes and see what happens.

So why do we need to get the government out of business in this country? Simply because the government is a huge bureaucracy and all of the various agencies that make up this bureaucracy have one very important thing in common. They are not real owners. They have no interest in profit or loss. They have no insurance companies to answer to as they plan and prepare projects. Because they have no ownership, they are overcome by inertia.

Look at the response of the various emergency agencies in what is turning out to be one of the worst national disasters in all of U.S. history. It took five days before anyone could get food and water into New Orleans. It took five days before they could get an adequate number of troops into the area to control the gangs. How can something like this be allowed to happen? In a word, inertia.

In addition to FEMA, we have the Department of Homeland Security. Both of these agencies have been running disaster drills in various cities for years. So why werent they ready for Katrina? We knew a full three days before Katrina hit that it would be bad, so why werent these agencies staged and ready to roll? Why was there no coordination of effort? Isnt that what all of these drills are about? You may have noticed that the news agencies had no problem getting into those areas hit the hardest by Katrina.

Here are a couple of quotes by top governmental officials.

Patrick Rhode, deputy director of FEMA, (commenting on his agency's performance after four days of steadily increasing urban warfare, deeply flawed coordination, and continuing inability to evacuate refugees)

"Probably one of the most efficient and effective responses in the country's history."

Mike Brown, Director of FEMA, (referring to people who were stuck in New Orleans largely because they were too poor to afford the means to leave):

"...those who are stranded, who chose not to evacuate, who chose not to leave the city..."

Michael Chertoff, Secretary of Homeland Security, (following widespread eyewitness reports of refugees living like animals at the Convention Center):

"I have not heard a report of thousands of people in the Convention Center who don't have food and water."

George W. Bush, President of the United States, (six days after repeated warnings from experts about the scope of damage expected from Hurricane Katrina):

"I don't think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees."

You see, these people are not owners of their respective organizations. There is no profit or loss motive for running an efficient operation. There is no competition.

This disaster is probably one of the best examples of why the government has no business being in business in this country. The government has proven over and over that it cannot run programs efficiently. Private industry could and would do a far better job of handling things that the government has convinced us that they have to do for us.

And how about those people who were too poor to leave the city? Our government convinced us back in the 1930s that we needed agencies to give aid to the poor. These entitlement programs have bred a whole population of people who cannot and will not think or do for themselves. When you listen to their complaints on TV, they want to know why no one has brought them food or water. If you or I were in a position where we could not leave in the face of such a devastating storm, we would have at the very least stored some water. With 36 hours before the hurricane was due to hit, if I didnt have the money to drive out of town, I would have walked or rode a bike. But most of these people didnt. Why? Because they have always waited for the government to take care of them. Its all they know. Our government helped to create these people.

What everyone needs to understand is that your government is not there for you. They are there for themselves. They make decisions based on what works best for them, not for you. Entitlement programs keep government officials elected and in office. It was easy enough to convince us that we needed entitlement programs because humans have always been suckers when it comes to getting something for nothing.

Think about this...if our government wasnt involved in controlling the currency, we would have money that retains its value. If the government wasnt involved in the mortgage business, we wouldnt have a huge housing bubble that is set to explode. If our government wasnt involved in the insurance business, we would not have houses in flood planes because insurance companies wouldnt take the risk. If the government wasnt involved in the mail business, we wouldnt have an agency that has never paid its own way and continues to run huge deficits year after year. If our government wasnt involve in using force against other people and countries, we wouldnt have terrorists attacking our country As you can imagine, the list goes on forever. The list of research grants and subsidies seems endless.

Instead of being a country that is building a world empire by force, we could be an example of how a truly free country can have a positive effect on the world. We could lead by example. Our first step is to become a truly free country, by freeing ourselves from our oppressive government. They really have no idea what is in our best interests.