United statolatry of America

By: Jonathan Newman

Posted: 11/6/09

Democrat v. Republican is a tired, false dichotomy. In the same way, there was no real choice between John McCain and Barack Obama in the most recent presidential election. Now, with Obama in office, there has been no real change from the previous administration. Even with all of the promises of Hope and Change, there has been no change and precious little hope.

All that has changed is the politics. Instead of shoving a Republican war-focused neoconservative agenda down America's throat, we're now being force fed a Democratic progressivist liberal agenda. The trouble is you can't sneak this food to the dog when Obama isn't looking.

We haven't decreased the number of troops in the Middle East. In fact, we've waged more war since Obama became Commander-in-Chief. Our progressive taxes (progressive in that the richer are taxed disproportionately more than others) flip back and forth with each administration, without any systemic changes. We might add a new group of people to receive "free" healthcare, but how is this idea any different from the current government healthcare programs? Even Obama's first major push as president, to close Guantanamo Bay, has not come to fruition. Wake me up when something new and exciting happens.

Democrats and Republicans believe in the same god: the state. Jesus said, "The state has become the 'idol' everyone turns to and worships. Statolatry is without a doubt the most serious and dangerous social disease of our time. We are taught to believe all problems can and should be detected in time and solved by the state." (That is, Jesus Huerta de Soto. Who were you thinking about?)

The state is worshipped by all. Instead of handing over our sins to be forgiven, we hand over all of our problems and expect the almighty state to solve them for us. Instead of tithing, we pay taxes. Instead of praying, we petition and vote.

Barack Obama and John McCain may disagree on what the government should do to fix society's problems, but neither one considers the radical idea of the government getting smaller, doing less or not meddling with private citizens' affairs. We give government the authority to fix our problems because the government has our money, and we give the government our money because the government has authority. Does anybody else think this is messed up?

Let me posit a third political philosophy, and the way out of this bipartisan mess: libertarianism. Libertarianism is the crazy idea that I own myself and my stuff, and follows from the two rules that kindergarteners can follow, but politicians seem to have chronic difficulties comprehending: mind your own business and keep your hands to yourself.

This idea is becoming increasingly relevant, especially with the more recent gross government interventions. A new wave of candidates, including Rand Paul, Peter Schiff, RJ Harris, and Jake Towne, has emerged, proclaiming that the state does not hold all of the answers. I encourage you to find candidates in your area that don't fit the same old intransigent Republican and Democrat molds. Make your vote actually count for something besides the mindless perpetuation of this aggrandized leviathan.

Jonathan Newman is a senior
psychology and communication studies double major from
Birmingham, Ala.
He can be reached at
jrnewma1@samford.edu.