From Kevin Baker (who I just knew wasn’t going to be able to stay away from blogging too long)
The British state lectures, hectors and micro-manages the law-abiding. When it comes to defending them, it is, all too often, AWOL. -- Andrew Stuttaford
This is one of those things that really stick in my craw. All too often we’re told over and over that we need to let the government do X, Y, and Z because only the government can. Unfortunately, when abdicating your responsibility to the government for things like self defense, health care, and education, you only give them the control part, and not the responsibility.
When your child fails to learn how to read because their teacher is incompetent, what is your recourse? When the police fail to protect your loved ones from the psycho with the machete, who can you sue? When you cannot get the life saving surgery in time for your spouse, how do you plan to hold the government health disbursing office accountable?
I have a financial advisor who has been phenomenal over the years. However, if I were to lose my shirt because of her incompetence, I can sue her. Who can I get recompense from regarding my Social Security payments that will no longer be available to me?
Digging up the grave of the horse I beat on a regular basis for another go – When the addition to my house falls apart because of shoddy construction or failure to adhere to code, do you think the petty thief building inspector who leaned over my fence, agreed there was construction going on, and asked for his check will feel any sort of shame for doing a poor job or have even the slightest risk at losing his job because of it?
No.
The problem with relying on the government to provide so many services outside the bounds of what the Constitution allows is that generally, in order for them to be able to, they must hold a monopoly. While I could hire an outside inspector to come check to ensure my extension is truly to code, I’ve already paid for that service. Well, not paid. I already had that money stolen from me at gunpoint, but you get the drift.
I’d even compromise. I could see the gov’t requiring that you get an inspection done, but they cannot provide it. It all boils down to incentive. With a private company, failure to perform their job correctly leads to negative consequences. For the state? They’ll just claim they need more money and take it from you whether you want them to or not.