Adjustment to Government Intervention

When a government creates an immoral system, a consequence is often that people come to rely on it. When slavery was permitted, people's life-styles and maybe even lives depended on slaves. Today, with Social Security and other redistribution schemes, people have come to rely on them. Since the government stole their wealth over the years preventing their ability to save for the future, they are left dependent on an immoral, bankrupt system.

This is one of the greatest evils possible to government. Not just that they initiate force, but force people to rely on them. This makes ending an unethical institution difficult. The dependence makes change particularly difficult.

This does not mean these systems can't be changed, though. It means that an immediate end to them will be painful. A problem here is accepting these situations as permanent. They are not. Unethical systems can be removed in the long term, with little or no discomfort. Finding the right method of removing them is another task.


Copyright © 2001 by Jeff Landauer and Joseph Rowlands