The Alternative

Validation is aiding the enemy

When I was a kid I lived in California where we had to pay to park much of the time. If we had a doctor's appointment we would take the ticket in to get it validated. The receptionist would stamp it and that meant the doctor paid for our parking.

Validation came to mind as I received an email alerting me to the fact

Governor Branstad supports Common Core, a system of standards in education. Common Core is implemented by states in response to bribes from the federal government and is dictated by the United Nations to prepare the youth of the world to be productive corporate drones. An example of a pornographic book required for eleventh graders was used in the email to illustrate the evil of Common Core.

Common Core is not the problem. Government schools are the problem.

People who are concerned about such programs as Common Core are being tricked into debating these details rather than the whole concept of forced schooling. In a free country we should not stand for such a thing as compulsory education or compulsory funding of education. We should not be put in a position of breaking the law to keep our kids from porn.

There are numerous issues where we fall into the same trap. Illegal immigration is one. If anyone should be against illegal immigration it should be big government liberals. The two main issues involving illegal immigrants are that they use government services and “steal” jobs. In using such arguments we validate the welfare state and protection from competition in the job market.

Americans should be for whatever system would allow the most workers to compete for available jobs in order to fill each job with the most qualified worker. That's how a free economy increases wealth for everyone. I can imagine liberals wanting to restrict foreign workers in order to protect inefficient workers with the misguided idea that that would somehow improve the living standards of those workers. But in the big picture any manipulation of free exchange increases costs for everyone including the workers the tyrants intend to protect.

Is regulating who can be married something we want to delegate to the government? Is this not a personal matter? We get all worked up over judges making laws regarding gay marriage when the real issue is whether marriage should be any business of state authorities in the first place. The main points of contention in this area are the power of spouses in medical decisions and tax advantages of married couples.

Medical decisions are delegated by legal documents already and can be done between providers and customers the same way for everyone. And by debating tax advantages in this area, once again, the intrusion of the state is validated by sidestepping the issue of the existence of income taxes to begin with.

Are conservatives being manipulated into validating a stifling nanny-state or do they actually prefer it that way? Would taking a principled stand for real personal freedom ever turn things around? Or is the proper course one of baby steps, picking away at the monster, cell by cell.

Focusing on details allows the enemy to incrementally ratchet up big government. It distracts us from drawing that line in the sand where our rights are being violated. We address details in order to stay part of the dialogue, a dialogue that wouldn't have to exist if the true meaning of rights were understood.

If we continue to allow ourselves to be drawn into dialogue bounded by totalitarians, we will remain in the chains of the state. We need to focus on principle to avoid validating the Soviet style obedience that limits our prosperity.

Now I have a website with some features other than this column. Go to www.alternativebyfritz.com. I would be forever grateful for any input from readers at 4selfgovernment@gmail.comor through the website.