Hug a Fed

The liberal/leftist views of the federal government and corporations fascinate me. Here's a brief summary of this outlook:

Private Corporations: corrupt, evil, untrustworthy, greedy, always will make a buck at someone else's expense, far more harmful to society than beneficial.

Federal Government: benevolent, good, honest, selfless, always willing to help the unfortunate, a boon to mankind.

I realize most liberals won't come out and overtly state this, but it's true. Government is the cure-all, the entity that makes all things right.

What rubbish.

Here's how I see it: Private corporations inherently are neither good nor bad. Some fit the liberal description to a tee; others don't even come close. Some businessmen are honorable, some are swine. I do agree that when great amounts of money become involved, the tendency toward corruption heightens.

But the federal government inherently is evil. Why? Because of the concentration of vast amounts of money and power, the likes of which even the mightiest corporation can only dream. So we're not just talking cash, here. The feds don't just control your job. They have the power of life and death. The centralization of such power only makes the likelihood of corruption worse. As the old adage goes: "Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely." I don't remember who said it, but it's true. Are there exceptions? Sure. Are there many exceptions. Nope.

Our Founders understood this concept well, and they believed it. They considered government an evil--a necessary evil, to be sure--but an evil, nevertheless. Yet they also knew that the alternative (no governing body at all) was worse. This brings anarchy. Anarchy means destruction. So they created a federal government, with limited Constitutionally-defined powers. All powers not specifically laid out in the document were to be left to the domain of individual states. The decentralization of power makes corruption less likely, and diminishes its effects, limiting it to a smaller geographical area.

But when men receive power of this magnitude, the tendency is to attempt to control the lives of their fellows.

The federal government is not your friend. It never has been, and it never will be. The sooner folks start contemplating this, the better. Remember that, the next time a lefty starts railing against private companies, and calling for big government intervention.