Government Theft?

I read this post over at Acidman's, and it got me to thinkin.

I have always agreed with his assertion that the government does not make money, that it only steals it, but now I'm not so sure.

One of my Marines works in Supply, and he orders literally millions of dollars of stuff daily from vendors. Government vendors? No! Private vendors. Civilians. Civilians who are so damn glad to be getting these orders they could just shit.

This is how they feed their families, and are able to hire people so they can feed theirs own families.

The vendors go out and buy things from other vendors so they can make the stuff for the Marines, and the circle of life continues.

That money Uncle Sam 'stole', is pumped back into every community in this country in one way or another. Stop that flow for one week, and try to imagine the state this country would be in.

I always used to hear the word 'pork', as applied to government spending, and think bad thoughts, but now I'm not so sure.

I love pork, and muslims hate it. How can pork be a bad thing? Might as well call it 'Ice Cream Spending'. Or 'Chocolate Spending'.

Money, sent to the central fountain of Washington DC, and then sprayed up in the air to come back down and water the whole country.

We are a Super Power for several reasons, and I am beginning to believe that this system is one of them. And it supports at least two of the other Reasons: Our Military, and our highway and transportation infrastructure.

Wanna see a town die? Pull all of the government contracts and funding and subsidies from it and let it try to fend for itself. Some make it. Most won't.

I never thought I'd change my mind about this. I am now beginning to see the anti-government types as idealistic agrarian hippie dreamers, like Anarchists, with their dreams of a beneficient chaos.

Sure, government can and will kill you. So will a combine, or that merry-go-round at the fair, if you handle them wrong.

We have a system. It works. It is far from perfect, but people climb over fences and risk life and limb and freedom to get here to live in it.

We need checks, and balances, and angry soreheads testing and resisting from all sides, to keep the lumbering beast from becoming too complacent, or worse, over confident and arrogant.

But you are stupid to make someone bigger and meaner than you afraid of you. Best to remember that.

It is useless to be right, and dead.


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