Are fears of even modest State growth reasonable?

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Statism is creepy, so a little bit today becomes more tomorrow.

Power creep axiom: The bureaucrats and politicians who run The State will find creative ways to expand any power you give them.

Since politicians and bureaucrats think it’s okay to initiate force for “good goals,” they will naturally seek to magnify their power so as to accomplish even more “good.”
One way they will do this is by interpreting the “rules” in the broadest way possible. And sometimes they will simply ignore any rule they can’t reinterpret.
Politicians and bureaucrats will also seek to exploit crisis and failure. They will argue that the failure or crisis happened because they didn’t have enough power. Thus, a crisis caused by The State can easily result in politicians and bureaucrats gaining more power. This may then lead to an even larger crisis.
It’s crucial to understand that there’s no way to prevent this “power creep” from happening, once it’s started.

  • Such problems can be controlled in the Voluntary Sector by consumers withdrawing their business. But that’s impossible with The State.
  • Voters are likewise powerless. The best they can do is vote out existing office holders, but the underlying bad incentives remain.

Statism is creepy. And the only way to stop this creepy behavior is to NOT allow the first “reasonable” increment, because it will lead to all the rest.

By Perry Willis & Jim Babka

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