Thomas DiLorenzo writes:
The “Washington Monument Syndrome” on Steroids
In the 1960s when Congress refused to give the National Park Service all the budget dollars it was requesting the head of the “Service” responded by shutting down the Washington Monument, the most popular tourist attraction in D.C., along with other national parks. It was not financially necessary to do so; the purpose was to inflict inconvenience on voters from every state in order to “bring Congress to its senses” and restore the agency’s bloated budget. It worked.
All other government bureaucracies at all levels of government quickly caught on. Local governments would curtail police, ambulance, and garbage collection services if “stingy” taxpayers balked at tax increases; school districts cut school bus services to punish taxpayers for refusing to impose higher taxes on themselves; and on and on. The Washington Monument Syndrome was born.
So you can imagine what popped into the head of Yours Truly upon reading that the Trump administration cut the budget of the CDC from $11.5 billion in 2018 to $7.7 billion in the 2020 budget. The CDC bureaucracy responded by very successfully organizing mass hysteria over a cold virus that is inconsequential when compared to the flu or the incidence of tuberculosis in the U.S., among many other far more deadly diseases.
Politicians and bureaucrats at all levels immediately jumped on the bandwagon of totalitarianism, finally proving beyond all doubt that they are all totalitarians at heart — that is why they are politicians and bureaucrats. “Conservative” Senator Tom Cotton urges us to shut down the entire economy while arguing for the Fed to print up enough currency to give everyone a “guaranteed annual income.” Has any self-described communist been so bold?
We are witnessing the Washington Monument Syndrome on steroids, the blackmailing of America, and the destruction of freedom, just so Joseph Stalin, Jr. (a.k.a. Anthony Fauci) can have more of our money to play doctor with. No wonder Fauci always seems to have a sh_t-eating grin on his face every time he’s interviewed on TV.
Based on Prof. DiLorenzo's observations, political activity thrives on conflict not its just and peaceful resolution. History has shown this repeatedly to be true. People need to abandon politics as a significant decision making tool. We must embrace voluntary solutions to human conflict and step away from the body politic one person at a time. Based on human nature, and its reluctance to give up the idea that might makes right, this will be a long and difficult process.
ReplyDeleteExactly correct.....we can only stop the fear and intimidation by the statist thugs by one person at a time stepping back and refusing to be scared and bullied by the authoritarians.
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