That's What I'm Talking About

Mike Rozeff wrote an article that articulated exactly the point I made here. Rozeff one-ups me by describing how the process inevitably progresses. Government funding leads to widespread fraud. This is an inevitable part of the human experience. We are all fallen. We are all prone to all sorts of evil. If someone puts $100 on a park bench with a note that says, "Take this $100 only if you REALLY need it, and use it for what you need," do you think that $100 will be taken by someone truly impoverished? If so, do you think it will be used for food or shelter? Of course not.

I said in a previous post that Economics is the study of how man copes with the fall. Life is tough, and work is hard. We toil against the soil which resists us, so we take advantage of every possible advantage. We do not, by nature, take the righteous path over the path of least resistance. So, if the government puts money towards some program, or some industry, without any controls, it will fall victim to fraud and waste. People, being people, will take advantage of the lack of controls, and use the money for their own personal gain. Once the fraud and waste is discovered, the government will have 2 options in order to correct the problem: withdraw the money, or increase the control mechanisms. In my opinion, it is much more likely that government will increase the control mechanisms. Depending on the extent of the controls, and the relationship between the government and the industry, the result will either be fascism (public private partnerships) or socialism (full public control).

Controls are not a bad thing. The question is, who determines them? Free people making free decisions, or the government? The question should be rhetorical. The free market is far and away a better system of controls. It is more ethical and it serves the desires of the people more efficiently. Government control is funded through extortion and, being made up of fallen people, is predisposed to service itself and special interests, any attempts to service the desires of the people come after the desires of the bureaucrats and the politically connected.