Segment 16

16: "Limited Government"

The title here is in quote signs because the theory of limited government, integral to the United States Constitution and its whole basis of government, is a fable; and this Segment will prove it.
It could be that you, dear Student, have reached this point in TOLFA having diligently worked on its first fifteen Segments (congratulations!) and so concurred that government is a terrible idea completely opposed to the very heart of human nature and freedom, the key to human survival and happiness; but are so comfortable and familiar with the institutions of government that you tremble at the prospect of letting it go altogether - and it's true, the coming change to a free society will indeed mean travelling where no society has travelled before.
Old maps of the world, drawn before explorers had been everywhere, marked the unexplored areas Terra Incognita - Unknown Territory. Naturally, if some intrepid sailor said he was going there, his friends and family feared for his life, and perhaps for his sanity. "Here be dragons!" they might write, underneath that Latin. It's the old "fear of the unknown."
In this case, the character of a free society is hardly unknown, for even here in TOLFA we have seen many of its key characteristics; and far from there being anything to fear, fear is very much what we will leave behind. Government, not freedom, is the source of terror and turmoil.
Yet even so, that's only theoretical; nobody has done this before for real. And so the nagging fear remains, and moves some folk to wonder "couldn't we just limit government, instead of doing away with it altogether?" The answer is NO, and here's why.
1. The Phrase Itself is a Contradiction in Terms
Consider the terms, one at a time. "Government" is an entity that governs, or rules; in Segment #2 we picked as the best and normal definition "the absence of a market" but noted that other good definitions were "an organization that governs those within its power" and "whatever has a monopoly on the use of unaccountable force in its domain." Thus, if government is government, it has nothing governing it; it is the outfit on top, the entity that does the ruling.
Now for the term "Limited." We know what that means; it tells of restrictions, of prohibitions. If a slave was ordered not to stray outside the plantation perimeter but did so anyway, authority came down, and demanded an explanation. It absolutely implies that the one doing the limiting rules the one being limited!
Put the two together, and what we have is a perfect oxymoron, a contradiction in terms. The phrase attempts to convey the impossible idea of a ruled ruler, a governed governor! Either a government is able to govern without limits within its domain, or else it is not a government! Limits either limit, or else they are not limits!
In case the contradiction isn't abundantly clear, we can take this further. Suppose by some violation of logic an alleged government ("A") exists which is, in fact, limited. That being so, the party doing the limiting is and absolutely must be the true government. Call it "B", and suppose that the earnest believers in the myth of "limited government" insist that B, too, is limited. By whom? - why, by government "C", of course. Then C must be limited by D, the true and actual government; and D by E and so on ad infinitum. That progression really must be infinite, and because the number of human beings available to govern or be governed is not infinite, we have conclusive proof that "limited government" is a logical impossibility.
It does not exist, it never has existed, it never will exist, it is a myth. End of story.
2. It Was Well Tried, and It Did Fail
So urgent, however, is the irrational desire of some folk not to leave the familiar cocoon of such mythical limits on government that irrefutable logic alone may somehow not suffice. Let's observe therefore that this utterly impossible theory has been attempted in practice, and it has (as we ought to expect) abysmally failed. That refers to the United States of America, and to all other nations that boast a "constitution" said to limit what their governments are "allowed" to do. Ridiculous; but let us see what happened, anyway.
The fatal contradiction can be seen in the thinking of the Founders even before the Revolutionary War was fought; it comes in the first few lines (otherwise sublime!) of the Declaration of Independence:-

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness - that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed...

So America's Founders, who were no dummies to be sure, actually advertised that they "held" two wholly contradictory concepts to be "true":

that liberty can be "secured" by instituting something that in its very nature is an absolute denier and violator of liberty, see Segment #2, and
that it is ever conceivable that those governed can give their "consent" to be governed!
It really boggles the mind, that they could be so profoundly stupid. The second, perhaps, is the more incredible of the pair. If you give your consent for me to rule or govern you, you're not being governed; your will has been declared subservient to mine by your own doing. This is doubly impossible; it firstly guts the word "govern" of all significance and secondly requires belief in the possibility of voluntary slavery, which as we saw in Segment 1 is logically contradictory and flatly violates the self-ownership axiom.
Perhaps they weren't stupid; perhaps they were cunning politicians like all the rest, winning support by words that, to this day, sound magnificent but have no coherent meaning. Hard to tell; those men did at least lay their lives on the line, in the War, for what they said they believed. But there are only two possibilities: that they were cynical manipulators, or just plain stupid.
Whichever; by 1781 the great experiment in allegedly limited government had begun, and shortly after that the Constitution was in place to permit the new government to do certain things and to limit or prohibit it from doing any others. The most important Amendment in the Bill of Rights is #9, and that's the one that's been most carefully ignored, ever since:

The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

- that is, the fact that the Bill of Rights named specific limits on government power did not mean that no other limits existed. It was implicit throughout the document that the government was to exercise only those powers expressly "delegated" but just to make sure, that Ninth Amendment was put in place.
Never before or since has "limited government" been established better or more clearly than in America. It has been very well tried. Now let's observe how thoroughly it has failed.

Stated Limitation Actual Performance
Article 1 §8: The Congress shall have power... to coin money, regulate the value thereof Far from merely coining such metal as individuals choose to bring to its Mints, the government routinely issues and even prints what it calls "money" - see Segment 11.
Article 1 §8: The Congress shall have power... to borrow money on the credit of the United States In huge amounts, the government also lends money (eg to foreign governments to purchase their cooperation) using a power which the Constitution nowhere grants.
Article 1 §8: The Congress shall have power... to provide for the common defence and general welfare of the United States The government endlessly provokes offensive wars (Segment 10) and provides for the particular welfare of its favored clients at the expense of others (Segment 7)
Article 1 §8: The Congress shall have power... to establish post offices and post roads Government virtually monopolizes all roads, whether "post" is conveyed along them or not, and whether competing alternatives could have been provided or not.
Article 1 §2: Direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several states The main "direct tax" is the US income tax, which is expressly not apportioned, on the pretext that Amendment 16 relieved government of that requirement. However, that Amendment used the term "income" without defining it; and during the half dozen years following alleged ratification the Supreme Court repeatedly defined it as "corporate profit" - one of them expressly confirming that the Amendment gave Congress "no new taxing power." Yet it now furnishes 50% of all Federal revenues, direct from individuals' earnings.
Amendment #1: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech... Government brutally murdered 84 men, women and children in Waco, TX in 1993 who wanted only to be left alone freely to exercise their religion; and time after time has savagely curtailed free speech. Examples: the Alien & Sedition Acts of 1798, gagging of anti-war speech during the Civil War, WW-I, WW-II and in the current phony "War on Terror" with its infamous "Patriot Act."
Amendment #2: The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. That right (derived directly from the self-ownership axiom) has been not merely "infringed" but savagely and repeatedly denied by every government entity in the USA with about 20,000 anti-gun laws
Amendment #3: No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner Literally, this limit has been respected. However, the standing, peacetime US military establishment costs every household over $4,800 a year (2004) in taxes - the money equivalent of a compulsory paying guest.
Amendment #4: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated; and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized. This is possibly the Right most frequently trashed in the whole Bill of Rights. Quite openly, the Feds are (in 2006) spying on every international email and phone call that they wish, on the catch-all pretext of "National Security." Ever since the early 1990s they have been doing the same surreptitiously, by having foreign governments (notably the UK) do the spying on US Citizens then providing the date to the US Government; and vice versa. And searches and seizures of homes without proper, sworn warrants are the norm, and if the SWAT raiders happen to invade the wrong home in search of drugs and kill the occupant well, that's really sad but - humans err.
Amendment #5: No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous, crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service, in time of war, or public danger; nor shall any person be subject, for the same offence, to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled, in any criminal case, to be a witness against himself; nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation. Government routinely tricks suspects into "confessing" by deliberately lying to them - with full support from its courts; and gladly places them in double jeopardy by creating two levels of adjudication, criminal and civil.
Holding prisoners without trial or even access to a lawyer in Guantanamo Bay has become a worldwide scandal, a good reason to pour well-deserved mockery on the supposed virtues of American "justice". The trick is to allege that they are prisoners of war held outside the USA (and so not protected by the Bill of Rights) even though no war was ever declared by Congress as required by Article 1, §8. The hypocrisy fairly reeks.
Property, meanwhile, is routinely grabbed by government for both "public" and even private use, whether the "compensation" is just or not. (It never can be in reality since "just" is what is equally acceptable to buyer and seller in a voluntary exchange; by definition, a "taking" is not a voluntary exchange. That's a fatal flaw in the Amendment.)
Last but not least, every year over one hundred million Americans are compelled or tricked (same difference) into filing a confession with the IRS that can and will be used against them if the government sees fit. It's called a 1040.

Amendment #6: In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury... Reality: government trials are almost never "speedy" by any reasonable definition and juries are certainly never "impartial" because (a) jurors are selected only from a list of those who register to vote, ie to endorse the political system, and (b) jurors are submitted to lengthy voir dires or questionnaires, to show the government lawyers, who have all the time and money they need, whether their profiles fit what is required to convict the defendant.
Amendment #7: In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved... Reality: exceed the speed limit when a cop is watching, and when your trial comes up with a potential fine of $21 or more, see if you can get (a) a criminal trial, with its unconditional guarantee of a jury in Amendment 6, or (b) a jury anyway under Amendment 7, if they insist on pretending it's not a "criminal" matter. Case closed.
Amendment #8: Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted. Fine words. No definition of "excessive" or "cruel" or "unusual" and government drives through those holes with a Mack truck whenever it feels so inclined. You might think that giving a prisoner a 2" mattress on a steel bed and denying him his regular medication is "cruel". Government does not.
Amendment #10: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or by the people. You can read quickly through the powers that are so granted, in Article 1; and then compare it with the monstrous, $2½ trillion/yr spending machine that the Federal Government has become in a mere two centuries, on top of a similar monster in the States, cities and towns. There is no grant of power whatsoever for the overwhelming majority of what government actually does; the limits of Amendments 9 and 10 have become just a piece of paper, that nobody bothers to read any more.

The above is just a sampling; endless other examples could be named. Inescapable conclusion: not only is it impossible logically to limit government, it cannot be done in practice either.
3. Segment Review
This is a hard conclusion to embrace, so deeply has the idea of some degree of government embedded itself in our awareness of "the way things ought to be." Many Conservatives have embraced some of the free-market ideas in TOLFA - indeed many have written books in their favor, some of which are commended in the "Further Reading" lists in the Academy. Also many Liberals have endorsed the principles of privacy and freedom from a military draft implicit in the self-ownership axiom. But few members of either group have shown themselves willing to act consistently with that axiom; possibly they "see the dots" but something deep in the unconscious prevents them from connecting those dots and concluding rationally that the cultural norms under which they have been raised are, simply, flat wrong.
Nonetheless, we have seen throughout TOLFA that government is absolutely incompatible with the essential nature of human beings, both by tightly-reasoned theory and by numerous major examples in practice. In Segment 16 here we have nailed down hard the fact that "limited government" is no more feasible than partial pregnancy; that, again, it is an impossibility both by reason and in practice. Therefore you, dear Student, have now come to a moment of decision. The evidence is before you, and is conclusive. The decision must be yours alone.
So, what's your choice?

I'm convinced. The reasoning and evidence in this Academy are overwhelming and I must follow where logic leads so as to remain true to my humanity. I want to live in a fully free society ASAP and to help one form I will find one new student a year.
I can't fault the reasoning in TOLFA, but the conclusion is too radical. I will remain conventional, even if that means living by myth rather than reality.

There are two more Segments in TOLFA, and you're welcome to take them even if you've decided not to join the movement for a free society (hey, you might change your mind.) The first is about the wonder and mysteries of life, that we can enjoy once we have our minds in tune with reality, and the last (#18) spells out what can be done while waiting for the happy day when government fades out of sight - a Segment critically important for those who have decided to help it come.
Oh, and don't forget to tell your Mentor that you reached this point!

Diploma Study Plan Download TOLFA now

For Futher Reading:
The Source of Evil
The Second Question
"The Constitution ('No Treason #s 2 and 6')" by Lysander Spooner

Stated Limitation	Actual Performance
Article 1 §8: The Congress shall have power... to coin money, regulate the value thereof	Far from merely coining such metal as individuals choose to bring to its Mints, the government routinely issues and even prints what it calls "money" - see Segment 11.
Article 1 §8: The Congress shall have power... to borrow money on the credit of the United States	In huge amounts, the government also lends money (eg to foreign governments to purchase their cooperation) using a power which the Constitution nowhere grants.
Article 1 §8: The Congress shall have power... to provide for the common defence and general welfare of the United States	The government endlessly provokes offensive wars (Segment 10) and provides for the particular welfare of its favored clients at the expense of others (Segment 7)
Article 1 §8: The Congress shall have power... to establish post offices and post roads	Government virtually monopolizes all roads, whether "post" is conveyed along them or not, and whether competing alternatives could have been provided or not.
Article 1 §2: Direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several states	The main "direct tax" is the US income tax, which is expressly not apportioned, on the pretext that Amendment 16 relieved government of that requirement. However, that Amendment used the term "income" without defining it; and during the half dozen years following alleged ratification the Supreme Court repeatedly defined it as "corporate profit" - one of them expressly confirming that the Amendment gave Congress "no new taxing power." Yet it now furnishes 50% of all Federal revenues, direct from individuals' earnings.
Amendment #1: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech...	Government brutally murdered 84 men, women and children in Waco, TX in 1993 who wanted only to be left alone freely to exercise their religion; and time after time has savagely curtailed free speech. Examples: the Alien & Sedition Acts of 1798, gagging of anti-war speech during the Civil War, WW-I, WW-II and in the current phony "War on Terror" with its infamous "Patriot Act."
Amendment #2: The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.	That right (derived directly from the self-ownership axiom) has been not merely "infringed" but savagely and repeatedly denied by every government entity in the USA with about 20,000 anti-gun laws
Amendment #3: No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner	Literally, this limit has been respected. However, the standing, peacetime US military establishment costs every household over $4,800 a year (2004) in taxes - the money equivalent of a compulsory paying guest.
Amendment #4: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated; and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized.	This is possibly the Right most frequently trashed in the whole Bill of Rights. Quite openly, the Feds are (in 2006) spying on every international email and phone call that they wish, on the catch-all pretext of "National Security." Ever since the early 1990s they have been doing the same surreptitiously, by having foreign governments (notably the UK) do the spying on US Citizens then providing the date to the US Government; and vice versa. And searches and seizures of homes without proper, sworn warrants are the norm, and if the SWAT raiders happen to invade the wrong home in search of drugs and kill the occupant well, that's really sad but - humans err.
Amendment #5: No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous, crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service, in time of war, or public danger; nor shall any person be subject, for the same offence, to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled, in any criminal case, to be a witness against himself; nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.	Government routinely tricks suspects into "confessing" by deliberately lying to them - with full support from its courts; and gladly places them in double jeopardy by creating two levels of adjudication, criminal and civil. Holding prisoners without trial or even access to a lawyer in Guantanamo Bay has become a worldwide scandal, a good reason to pour well-deserved mockery on the supposed virtues of American "justice". The trick is to allege that they are prisoners of war held outside the USA (and so not protected by the Bill of Rights) even though no war was ever declared by Congress as required by Article 1, §8. The hypocrisy fairly reeks. Property, meanwhile, is routinely grabbed by government for both "public" and even private use, whether the "compensation" is just or not. (It never can be in reality since "just" is what is equally acceptable to buyer and seller in a voluntary exchange; by definition, a "taking" is not a voluntary exchange. That's a fatal flaw in the Amendment.) Last but not least, every year over one hundred million Americans are compelled or tricked (same difference) into filing a confession with the IRS that can and will be used against them if the government sees fit. It's called a 1040.
Amendment #6: In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury...	Reality: government trials are almost never "speedy" by any reasonable definition and juries are certainly never "impartial" because (a) jurors are selected only from a list of those who register to vote, ie to endorse the political system, and (b) jurors are submitted to lengthy voir dires or questionnaires, to show the government lawyers, who have all the time and money they need, whether their profiles fit what is required to convict the defendant.
Amendment #7: In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved...	Reality: exceed the speed limit when a cop is watching, and when your trial comes up with a potential fine of $21 or more, see if you can get (a) a criminal trial, with its unconditional guarantee of a jury in Amendment 6, or (b) a jury anyway under Amendment 7, if they insist on pretending it's not a "criminal" matter. Case closed.
Amendment #8: Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted.	Fine words. No definition of "excessive" or "cruel" or "unusual" and government drives through those holes with a Mack truck whenever it feels so inclined. You might think that giving a prisoner a 2" mattress on a steel bed and denying him his regular medication is "cruel". Government does not.
Amendment #10: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or by the people.	You can read quickly through the powers that are so granted, in Article 1; and then compare it with the monstrous, $2½ trillion/yr spending machine that the Federal Government has become in a mere two centuries, on top of a similar monster in the States, cities and towns. There is no grant of power whatsoever for the overwhelming majority of what government actually does; the limits of Amendments 9 and 10 have become just a piece of paper, that nobody bothers to read any more.