Thomas Hobbes said, “The condition of man… is a condition of war of everyone against everyone”. Ultimately, this “condition of man” was his justification, his primary reason, for government. It was also the primary justification for the U.S. government.
I’ve explained it time and time again, but maybe now people will start seeing it a bit more clearly. Our Anti-Federalist founding fathers were correct to fear the abuse and violence of government, but our Federalist founding fathers were equally correct to fear the abuse and violence of the people.
I have many thoughts on the new “crisis” that has recently swept over the nation and replaced our previous crisis. We went from extreme (state) government control, to not enough government control; from experiencing the consequences of over-bloated unconstitutional government power, to seeing just how important a strong government is.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Government is good… as long as there is something to govern it.
We create government to protect us and our private property from each other. We create the Constitution to protect us and our private property from government.
Consider: It is law (made by government) that is necessary to curb, stall, contain the raging, violent nature of humanity. Humans are not decent and need law to constrain their behavior. Whether that be a constraint on the government’s behavior or the citizen’s behavior. This is why we have government in the first place.
SOME THOUGHTS ON THE RIOTS AND PROTESTS
So, the pendulum has swung from an overly abusive government to a now overly abusive, irrational mob.
I’m frankly a bit baffled at the ignorant buffoonery occurring across the nation right now. I teach and preach about the dangers of a democracy because of the emotional and irrational mob but it is painful to see so clearly just how right our founders were.
Friends, think about it. The strong government we were pushing back against just a few weeks ago, even days ago, is the strong government we need now more than ever. Government has its rightful place and use: to protect private property. Clearly, violations of private property are occurring across the nation without remorse and without thought. Those doing the violating need to encounter the strong hand of government.
The trouble with emotional behavior (or planned or paid — who knows anymore) is that there is no rationality to it.
I challenge Americans to consider this. If we were to stop one of the individuals smashing a car or beating up a shop owner and ask them what they hoped to accomplish by engaging in such behavior—would they have a rational or reasoned response? If we were to ask, what are they are angry about? Would it be more than a vague and unspecific generalization? Likely many answers would have nothing to do with what the individual has personally experienced but rather what he or she has been told that he or she has experienced.
If there is a legitimate cause to protest, peaceful protest is welcomed and encouraged in this country but there also must be a goal in mind. What is the goal of the protest? What specific change is needed? What specific problems must be remedied? If these questions cannot be answered, then any protest and/or riot has little to no effect. If anything, it may have the opposite effect. Which then calls into the question the real reason for such “protests”.
Make sense? If there is no rational end goal or legitimate option for change, then what is the purpose of the protest? Is there a different, perhaps more sinister, reason for such actions?
Ah, the power of the elites and the media to mold and shape our views of the world.
What we are seeing today is why we have government. It is why the United States is not a democracy. And it is why the Second Amendment exists.
People are easily lied to, manipulated and used. Unfortunately, some of society’s youngest and most vulnerable are being used, abused and manipulated to respond the way they are responding. They are destroying not only the lives of others but their own. They have lost all semblance of reason.
The irony of these riots is that they really have nothing to do with the senseless death of George Floyd. How dare anyone kill and destroy in the name of stopping death and destruction.
All logic has left. Even logic about health.
Days ago, many on the left were angry that individuals on the right were trying to open businesses, and engage in normal life again, within reason. Why? Because how dare those on the right endanger society by going out again. Cops were arresting people who went to beaches, parks, churches and the like.
Days later, people are now is massive groups with no “social distancing”, looting, burning, rioting, physically assaulting, and destroying cities with little to no thought about the supposed health consequences they may (or may not — as the lethalness of coronavirus is truly questionable) suffer. And the police are now allowing this behavior.
CONCLUSION
Who knows what will happen in the coming days and weeks as we approach November. I have a feeling things will only ramp up more and more.
I do have a few wishes from all of this.
I hope that we can finally move on from the Coronavirus now.
I hope we can see how truly damaging irrational and emotional behavior is and learn to appreciate law and order, confined, of course, by Constitutional law and order.
And I hope that we begin to appreciate the genius of our founding fathers even more. They knew that government was dangerous but they also knew that people were dangerous — so they worked to establish a system that set up friction between the two. We’ve seen the balance shift back and forth this year in dramatic fashion.
For those of us who love liberty, don’t act out of emotion. Don’t act irrationally. Keep your cool and keep your guns. Pray and please, always respect the laws of the land, because friends, without law, there is no liberty.
This article originally appeared on The Liberty Belle and is used by permission.
Christin McMasters is a South Carolinian now residing in North Carolina and has a Ph.D. in political science. She is a budding blogger and political science instructor, and her passion is politics.
Using her keyboard as her weapon of choice, Christin imparts some of her excitement, passion and knowledge about American government on her website, TheLibertyBelleNC.com.
Follow Christin on Facebook TheLibertyBelleNC and Twitter @LibertyBelleNC.
