Today's Government

I rarely write about government, but that's because I try not to think about it. I follow politics, but only because it explains so much.

Today there was an arrest of suspected terrorists in the UK, and the US govt was all over it. Now many people I know (and, by "many people" read "one," and by "know," I mean "invent") have the idea that government should be relied on to do good things. They actually expect government to function, to do things for the betterment of humanity, and to be there when things go right or wrong.

If only.

In response to today's arrests, the US government had decided that we can't take liquids on planes. This, somehow, lets us keep our freedoms, which they keep talking about. The terrorists, you see, had plans to concoct a mixable explosive and blow planes out of the sky, something I cannot endorse or feel very good about.

But what struck me is that terrorists have been using and planning this method for over ten years now. A few years ago some clown tried to blow up a plane with his shoes and we suddenly had to have our shoes inspected prior to boarding. Now other idiots want to mix up an explosive compound, and we can't take liquids on board.

This strikes me as reactive. Only after some method is used by the terrorists do we respond, and this exemplifies why I think government is a waste of time. Instead of figuring out, or studying, the ways we can be hurt, they wait until something is tried and then ban it.

And, they try to act all smug and self-confident when they present their new strategies.

A lot of my family has, or had, worked for the government. This has taught me much. The government rarely knows more than the private sector, and even less frequently acts on it. When you consider that half the population is of below-average intelligence, it's not hard to see why the government makes many of the decisions they do. Sure, there's plenty of people who work for the government, but that's mostly because if they didn't get a government job they'd be unemployed.