Statists believe politicians can regulate selfishness and greed.  There are four reasons they cannot..

  • First, politicians and bureaucrats are people too, and just as prone to selfishness and greed as anyone else. You can’t cure an inherent human weakness by giving one sub-set of flawed humans vast power over all the rest.
  • Second, political power will naturally attract the greediest people, thereby magnifying the problem you were hoping to solve. This is like letting the fox guard the hen house.
  • Third, there are few ways to control politicians once they’re in power. It’s very easy for them to pass laws and regulations that benefit themselves, or their cronies. It’s hard to prevent or punish this, or to replace incumbent office holders.
  • Fourth, greed and selfishness are actually self-punishing under normal circumstances.

After all…

  • Selfish people lack friends in times of need
  • Greedy people lose customers

But please notice — The State cannot lose friends and customers. People are compelled to submit to The State’s dictates. So, instead of being self-punishing, statist greed is actually self-rewarding. Politicians actually use their own failures as an excuse to grant themselves more power, and to spend more money.
In fact, statism is inherently greedy, because it initiates force in all that it does. By comparison, voluntaryists believe true generosity is peaceful, voluntary, cooperative, pro-social, and empathetic. True generosity builds bonds of community. Statism does the opposite. This is why…
Voluntaryists believe governments must obey the Zero Aggression Principle. Governments must not initiate force. They must only use force defensively. 

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By Perry Willis & Jim Babka

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