Why Government Doesn't Work: on Principles & Values


Government means use of force instead of persuasion

What is government? What makes it different from IBM or the Boy Scouts or a local security company? What separates government from the rest of society isn’t its size, its disregard for profit, its foresight, or its scope.
The distinctive feature of government is coercion-the use of force & the threat of force to win obedience. This is how government differs from every other agency in society. The others persuade; government compels.
For example, when someone demands that government help flood victims, he is saying he wants to force people to pay for flood relief. Otherwise, he’d be happy to have the Red Cross handle everything. Nothing involving government is voluntary-as it would be when a private company does something. One way or another, there is compulsion in every government activity.
People seek the help of charity organizations [and so on] to urge others to support some cause. People turn to government to force others to support their cause.
Source: Why Government Doesn’t Work, by H. Browne, p. 9-10 Jul 2, 1995

Taxes and regulations are forms of government use of force

All government activities require coercion--violence or the threat of it. You can always locate the coercion if you look for it.
First, the activity probably costs money--which was taken by force from people, whether or not they wanted the program. Almost no one volunteers to pay taxes.
Second, people are coerced to participate in the program [by regulations, inspections, and required forms]. If you fail to comply, you may be forced to pay a fine or may even be sent to prison. This can happen even if you are a peaceful, productive citizen--someone who has committed no violence against anyone, has stolen from no one, and hasn’t defrauded anyone.
After all the lesser penalties have been exhausted--the demands, the fines, the jail sentence-- if you continue to resist, the government will use a gun. The gun is always there. The gun is the essence of a law.
When someone asks for a government program, he is saying in effect, “Tell the plice to use their guns to get me what I want.”
Source: Why Government Doesn’t Work, by H. Browne, p. 28-29 Jul 2, 1995

  • The above quotations are from Why Government Doesn't Work: How Reducing Government Will Bring Us Safer Cities Better Schools, by Harry Browne.
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Page last updated: Feb 26, 2019