Bureau of Sabotage
I've always wanted to get other opinions on this fictional idea or something like it. I know my ideas for fighting government aren't seen as conventional here, but it strikes me that something like this would be fun to kick around as a hypothetical and maybe actually start. Vis a vi Austrians and libertarians, the goal would be to do anything and everything within limits defined by natural rights to frustrate the government's operations, increasing its costs to everyone while decreasing the benefits even net beneficiaries of government redistributions receive, the overall objectives being to frustrate people who try and live off government largess, make them see government solutions as too costly and seek other solutions, and hasten the redundancy and/or collapse of individual government programs and the whole government itself by deliberately shifting the balance of parasites to productive citizens to such a degree that most people can't stand it anymore.
Well what mechanisms would such a bureau employ? I would think agorism is the best way to destroy the state.
"hasten the redundancy and/or collapse of individual government programs and the whole government itself by deliberately shifting the balance of parasites to productive citizens to such a degree that most people can't stand it anymore."
Don't worry, our politicians are already on top of this.
twistedbydsign99:Well what mechanisms would such a bureau employ? I would think agorism is the best way to destroy the state.
Agorism is one mechanism among many to me. But what better way to show the superiority of market based alternatives to the state than to make sure the state is operating at maximum inefficiency? Crucial to Austiran class analysis though is that some people do benefit from the state at the expense of others. I don't think it's a stretch to say that while some may just be misinformed and would in fact prefer market based solutions if offerred, some are also just plain assholes who think the world owes them an income for blessing us with their existence. So how do you make those who can see the light turn toward it? And how do you do that while at the same time making the remaining parasites enough of a burden that it raises the ire of the net tax payer population to the point where they shake the parasites off?
baxter:Don't worry, our politicians are already on top of this.
I don't think they're moving fast enough. Or, put it this way: sometimes destroying the state isn't a matter of opposing it, it is a matter of enabling it. As long as enough people see themselves as the beneficiaries of state action, they will not abandon or revolt against it. If however more people than not see themselves as the victims of the state rather than the beneficiaries, that's when they start to consider abandoning and/or revolting. Therefore, and perhaps counter intuitively, the more victims of the state that are created, the better for the cause of liberty.
Take health care 'reform' as an example. We already have socialized health care in the US a la the Nazi model I'd say. The government covers just under half of all the bills raised and settled each year through an all out socialized program, the rest is handled mostly by a government mandated, corporate sponsored third party payment system. However most people think they're the victims of evil capitalist insurance companies. A lot of Americans seem to oppose health care 'reform' as proposed by the Democrats, but I think few of them realize they'll get the same ball of shit packages slightly differently from the Republicans. I also don't think this is an indicator of a general distrust of government, that this isn't the spearhead of some organized anti government, genuine conservative movement. It's just that people are broke and can't afford it right now, so generally oppose what they otherwise might fully endorse.
So why not back the bill? I mean is going from a half and half system of left and right wing socialism to full on left wing socialism really a significant change for the worse? Not to my mind. Hell, as a practical matter things might get easier for a time before the usual tendencies of government kick in and the system goes to hell with rationing and shortages and uncontrolled costs. But who will be to blame then? Of course the government will point fingers at whatever remaining bits of freedom there are as the cause, but how long can that last with any credibility? And suppose, just suppose, you, me, and everyone else associated with the Mises Institute went to the doctor for every hang nail, zit, and unusual bowel movement? What if we encouraged everyone we knew to do the same? How much faster would that system collapase and fall in to disrepute, and how much faster and more completely would people be willing to turn to the market when there truly was no one to blame for the misery they endure but the government itself?
So by enabling the government, and then using the system it sets up in order to max out its ill effects, you can perhaps hasten its demise. And people will not abandon or revolt against the government so long as a significant number of them see it as a potential and viable solution to their problems. A stable government is not possible for any length of time I would say, but the government does everything inefficiently, including screwing up, which lends it the appearance of stability to many. I say speeding the government on to its destiny is one possible method for speeding it on its way out. Once more comparing it to a fire, maybe there's a way to turn the slow smolder of imbecility that is the usual government workings into a nice quick destructive explosion that blows itself out and leaves freedom in its place. You can actually put a fire out by pouring gas on it, I've done it.
Admittedly you could also cause a bad explosion and burn yourself and lot of others too.