I think one of the most pervasive misconceptions that people have about government is that it can solve all our problems. Both liberals and conservatives fall into this trap on a regular basis to the point where it is almost comical. You know the prophet Isaiah mentioned this kind of behavior when he talked about goldsmiths making idols and then worshipping them. It’s kind of the same concept.
Now obviously, both groups don’t believe that government can fix everything (at least the “High Church” liberals and conservatives don’t), but there are plenty of issues nowadays that liberals and conservatives put their “faith” in government to handle. It seems that neither side is willing to admit that pretty much everything government does is pointless, save for a few things.
When I was in advanced placement government classes in high school, I learned a simple and very basic rule of legislation. When you pass a law, it must be enforceable. This means that if there are constraints on the government as to how they can enforce laws, then some laws passed are pretty much difficult to enforce. That never really seems to stop people, though.
Take my home state of Virginia. Adultery is considered against Virginia state law. The only reason I know this is because some spurred mistress went to the police to see if they could do anything (there’s that “government is magic” mentality). The police responded that adultery is considered illegal, so they fined the man. Naturally, this law is hardly ever enforced, as many people didn’t know about it until this crazy adulteress decided to take revenge on her lover.
So many politicians and people believe that by the simple stroke of a pen and the raising of a bunch of hands, we can do away with smoking, alcohol, drugs, guns, fatty foods, gays, sex toys, and bad music. Yet for some reason, even when we manage to outlaw things, we only end up making criminals out of people for doing things that are no harm to others (except for maybe bad music).
The truth of the matter is, most laws that are passed these days are designed for the singular purpose of raising revenue within the government. This applies to all levels of government where they only really want more of our money in order to secure their own positions. When it comes down to it, most of the laws that we need to administer justice have been passed long ago.
The reason that we keep having more laws passed is because legislatures always feel the need to do something in order to satisfy their debilitated self-esteem. Apparently, they can’t do enough to “serve” the common folk (or they can’t do enough to tax them). Does anyone really believe that the United States Congress should be meeting for more than a couple of months out of the year. All they really need to do is approve the budget and pass some minor laws. Instead we have oppressing us for the sake of their own egos and misplaced sense or morality.
Oh for the days of robber barons.