Out of Balance

I close my eyes
Oh God I think I'm falling
Out of the sky, I close my eyes
Heaven help me
--Madonna

We have noted often on these pages that government is essentially force. There are two general purposes for employing government force.

One is to help individuals protect their person and property against forceful invasion by others. This purpose is based on the natural law notion that individuals are endowed with inalienable rights to pursue their interests without forceful impairment by others. The force of government enables liberty by protecting people's pursuits from unwanted invasion.

The other purpose for employing government force is as a mechanism of plunder. Government can be used to forcefully invade the person and property of some individuals for the benefit of others. This purpose is grounded in axiomatic human behavior. Because people have insatiable needs that must be satisfied through productive work, and because people generally prefer less work rather than more work to satisfy their needs, some people will seek to satisfy their needs on the backs of the productive efforts of others. Given government's core competence of force, it inevitably dawns on some people to employ the strong arm of government to take what they want from others.

Some people believe that a balance can somehow be struck between the two purposes of government. When this proposition is seriously considered, however, it becomes clear that the two purposes of government are mutually exclusive. People cannot be free to pursue their interests under a government that is sanctioned to take from some for the benefit of others.

Bastiat recognized the dichotomy long ago when he observed that societies slide away from liberty when the strong arm of government is employed as an agent of plunder.

Indeed, a political system that blends the two purposes of government is inherently out of balance. Plunder is likely to grow, and liberty is likely to shrink.

Instability rather than stability.