Our government is a product of who we elect and support politically. It doesn’t matter in which country you reside; if you live in a representative republic of some sort, then when your government acts against your wishes, you likely have no right to complain and can probably only blame yourself.
I say most people, because not everyone has a tribal mentality. Tribal mentality is really the root cause of most governments gone awry. When one group of people is in power, they set rules and precedents for the following groups of people who are going to be in charge. For example, those who are inflicted badly with Trump derangement also cheered on as Obama and the Democrats created the very loopholes and precedents now used by Trump to do the things they don’t like. And, Obama took advantage of many of the things Bush had set up to do the things Republicans hated so much.
Representative governments become overreaching and overbearing as a result of people comfortably supporting politicians in an ends-justify-the-means manner so long as those politicians are “their guy”. It’s OK if “my guy” is doing it, because he does the right things. So, the door is open for the next person or group to do the same things with the same mentality. Perhaps a loophole is created that gives those in charge more power, or perhaps an existing loophole is used to a greater degree, thus setting a new precedent for abuse of power. Each subsequent change in leadership results in that particular leadership using the power granted by their predecessors.
In the history of the world, no tyrannical government ever became tyrannical by telling people its direct intentions. Those intentions are always cloaked in things the people support, with an ends-justify-the-means thinking and a tribal mentality that believes everything will be fine so long as their people are the ones taking on more power. Evil doesn’t announce itself. It comes in small steps that are hardly noticeable until they are so ingrained that they become extremely difficult to roll back.
So, as the left rails against the right and bemoans all the things they are doing, and as the right bemoans the enormous power of the left, it is absolutely critical to bear in mind that everyone has done this to themselves. When you grant power to those in government, they don’t give it back. It is painstakingly difficult to seize it back. The best way to begin a stem of the tide and to at least stop the progression is to stop giving away power in the name of your tribe. As soon as the opposition takes over, they will use it against you.
If you really want the opposition to accomplish less, then start by not allowing your people to justify any means of force. Stop thinking in terms of your tribe or your collective and instead think in terms of preserving your personal freedoms. It isn’t selfish to concern yourself with your own individual liberties, because in so doing, you preserve everyone’s.
When we are all free to exercise individual liberties, then we all really get the sorts of things we want in a society. If you want socialism, then there is nothing in a free society that prevents you and your friends from establishing a communal existence. If you want a society where everyone believes in the same religion and practices the same set of values, then there is nothing in a free society that prevents you from forming a group that closes itself off from the world and exclusively associates with whomever you please. No matter what it is you want to achieve in a society, in order to do so, the only way is to protect the rights of others to do the same. Therefore, the only way is to refuse power to even those whom you support.
Danny Chabino
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