You know, rants come from some pretty darn odd places sometimes. (Fair warning: this is totally a rant.) I was reading some reviews on The Dark Knight, and I came across an odd one in the economic blog of the Ludwig von Mises Institute, the self-proclaimed "research and educational center of classical liberalism, libertarian political theory, and the Austrian School of economics." The review (which you may not want to read if you haven't seen the film - he doesn't warn you, but there are totally spoilers) examines - and mostly praises - the film's treatment of The Joker as the embodiment of evil and yet not of sin. It also discusses The People's ability to work together for the common good.
Then things took a very weird, oddly libertarian slant (at the time, I didn't know it was a libertarian blog).
Jeffrey Tucker writes:
And yet there is a point that is never addressed in the film. Where does organized crime get its money? Bribes, no doubt. Probably business too. Is it gambling, prostitution, drugs, liquor, or something else? Whatever the case may be, the mob is the mob because it deals with black markets in something. The only reason that black markets exist is due to government prohibitions. A free market in gambling would reduce the level of corruption in this industry to the same level that it exists in the market for, for example, hamburgers. That is to say, it would not be a notable feature of the sector. The same is true with all traditional mafia activities. The best way — really the only way — to end its power is to end the prohibitions on peaceful trading of all goods and services.
But that is not what the state does. Instead, it fights these untenable and unwinnable wars against gambling, prostitution, drugs, and the like, and thereby drives them underground, guaranteeing high profits to those willing to take the risk to be part of the market. The riches are then used to bribe public officials and gain a certain amount of protection from the public sector. The cycle continues until the corruption becomes a deeply embedded part of public life.
It's times like this that I become sad that George Carlin has left us because, as I find is so often true, no one has said it better than he.
Now there's one thing you might have noticed I don't complain about: politicians. Everybody complains about politicians. Everybody says they suck. Well, where do people think these politicians come from? The don't fall out of the sky. They don't pass through a membrane from another reality. The come from American parents, American families, American homes, American schools, American churches, American businesses, and American universities, and they're elected by American citizens. This is the best we can do, folks; ... garbage in, garbage out.
I feel this is such an important point because attacking politicians and the government and the system and "The State" is focusing on the symptoms and ignoring the root problems:
·We forget that WE are "The State" - The American People are the final arbiters of justice in the governmental system our ancestors have devised. We have the freedom of assembly, to talk about what must be done in our government, and to protest, if no one listens to what we have to say. And ultimately, as a last resort if diplomacy fails, we have the responsibility to revolt, dismantle the system, and put it back together piece by piece. We have the power to reboot the system.
·An anemic educational system - Clearly, citizens of this representative democracy are given an awful lot of responsibility. In order to competently use that responsibility, we need an educated citizenry, capable of thinking for themselves, dissecting arguments, doing their own research, and vetting sources. Ever notice what happens when we have a budget shortfall, be it nationally or locally? Where do they take the money from? Most of the time, they take it from education (if someone wants to help me find some empirical evidence to support that assertion, that'd be swell - I'm no good at analyzing budget reports). And sometimes we notice we're getting dumber. We compare ourselves to our neighbors in the world and say "Hey, aren't we supposed to be the best country in the world? How come so many kids are failing?" So what do we do? Instead of providing better education, we lower the passing grades. Viola!, "The State" solved the problem! And the people let it happen. This, of course, is not even mentioning the ever-growing price of higher education.
·Pride - We tend to be a prideful, egocentric nation. We have convinced ourselves that we are the best. We are king of the hill, and our position is impenetrable. We use make up politically correct language to deceive ourselves and obfuscate the truth we don't want to see. And we make up nebulous concepts like "The State" for which to dump all of our blame on so we can pretend that we, ourselves, are not the problem. As we bury our heads in the sand, we leave our asses exposed, and we are paying dearly for it in many, many ways.
It's not all our fault. Governmental corruption is much like a cockroach infestation; once it's there, it's incredibly difficult to get rid of completely. Fear, distrust, racial and social disparity, and economic struggles tend to make us a bit myopic, and we cannot see the forest for the trees.
But we must always remember that while we cannot always help what happens to us, we do have a say in how we react to it. We have the responsibility and the power to shape our government however we want, whenever we like. We must find the courage to swallow our collective pride and take that responsibility. It's not easy, but we can do it. Yes, We Can.