Ron Paul: What Are We Going to Replace it With?

The most common response to Ron Paul's stance on the IRS and taxes shows that America is no longer the home of the free.
by John Armstrong
(libertarian)
Saturday, February 9, 2008

Here's a thought for you:

What do people say, nearly without fail, when Ron Paul talks about abolishing the I.R.S.?  I'll give you one guess.  Yep. Ding, ding, ding--you're right:

What are we going to replace it with? 

This one question offers a few incredibly profound insights into the state of our country if you sit back and really consider it.  I've learned in my professional and dating career that people don't always mean what they say or say what they mean.

If someone says, "I'm busy",  It may or may not be true, but either way, it means that his perception is that whatever it is you are asking him to do isn't important or attractive enough to forgo his other options.

If someone says, "I'll call you sometime", that means if I don't find someone I actually like between now and then and I get really desperate or lonely.

If a girl says, "My mom is my best friend" that means you're screwed because you'll be dating two women simultaneously with all of the drawbacks and none of the benefits. 

If someone asks, "Do you like X?" It usually means that they do, want to find a connection with you, and then bore you to death by talking about how much they like it, even if you don't.  On the contrary if someone asks, "Why do you like X?" It doesn't normally mean they are seeking enlightenment.  They are simply searching for a way to again, bore you by talking or they want to save you (which isn't always a bad thing, short-term).  Other than those meanings it could simply be a way to confirm that they don't  like you after you answer defensively or stupidly.

If someone asks, "Do you have a girlfriend?" It usually means one of three things: 1.  I hope you have one because I have a boyfriend and I know it will be easier for you to keep your mouth shut if you have something to lose too. 2.  I want you, but not enough to deal with the mess from coming between you and your girlfriend 3.  After watching you (insert disgusting male act here) I find it difficult to believe that any woman would be stupid enough to put herself in a position to be even tacitly associated with you, but if she exists I want to meet her so I can feel better about myself because I feel a little fat in these jeans tonight.

You get the point.

So what are people really saying when they ask:

"What are we going to replace it with"?

Once again, this has several meanings that I'll draw out below.

The first implied meaning is the only one that really matters, and it is this:  

The government has more of a right to my money than I do.   

Think about how absurdly backwards this is.  When did U.S. citizens start to care more about their government's freedom to do what it pleases than their own?   The Government was established to protect individual freedom, not to grant it by allowing us to keep whatever it doesn't need.  Yet we have now reached a point where the only fitting quote to describe the situation that comes to mind is the first line from Thomas Paine's Common Sense:

SOME writers have so confounded society with government, as to leave little or no distinction between them; whereas they are not only different, but have different origins. 

We talk about our Government as if it is a member of society and as such has rights that we as citizens must not infringe upon by not giving it what it needs to be free in order to do what it wishes, even if by doing that each citizen's freedom is eroded.  

Everyone knows Washington gets more than its fair share, yet when someone says that it shouldn't we don't say "Yeah, why do they need all of that money that I earned"; instead, we worry about whether or not our government will be okay. You may not know this, but the three wealthiest counties in the world's most prosperous country are D.C. suburbs.  D.C. will be okay with a little less, and we'd be a lot better with a little more. 

The Government doesn't have rights, but it does have power. Those powers are clearly defined in the Constitution. Although we have ceded far more power to the Government than was ever intended--actually, this isn't true, if we had granted that we would have amended the Contract we the people have with the government--the truth is that government took more power in order to do things that  a majority of people may have wanted done (as expressed by their voting for a party or candidate) but not enough people/states wanted done to amend the Contract.

This has made America a de facto democracy instead of a Republic. We were founded as a Republic so that "majority rule" never would.  Every bad idea that seemed like a good idea at the time has now been politicized in order to win elections. If the Contract had been followed, none of these issues would even exist because enough people would support it that it wouldn't divide us if we had come to the same agreement about how to best solve the problem that our government decided to solve for us and then given them the power to solve it.  Or it wouldn't be an issue because we would have chosen to solve the problem through some means other than our federal government.  Even if we had decided to allow the government to solve the problem and Amended the Contract to allow them to do do it, if we later decided that the solution was a poor one,  we would actually feel like we could do something about it because the government would be accountable to us (see 18th and 21st Amendments for an example of this).  No problem is big enough to destroy America, but our responses to them can by violating the Contract that protects our right to be what we think Americans are, and indeed what they ARE (at least according to the Contract): Free.

Because we have forgotten that the government is not part of society we now willingly cede more and more rights and freedom so that it (government) can be free while never stopping to ask, "what about my rights?" It seems that few people ever think "I'd be able to pay my mortgage and buy healthcare if the government didn't take half of what I earn." I guess we're okay with making sure the government has what they need to solve our problems for us, even if it means we don't have enough money or freedom left to solve them for ourselves.

So the next time someone asks you, "What would we replace it with?" just tell them, "Freedom."

Your Fellow American,

John Armstrong 

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©2008 John Armstrong, all rights reserved. You must have written permission from the author in order to republish this work.
Published: Saturday, February 9, 2008
Last modified: Saturday, February 9, 2008

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