Monday, March 15, 2010

The Government as A Parasite

Geek With A .45 has a post up that compares governments with parasites, and cites examples in which the parasite ultimately kills the host.

At the end of the day, all government is parasitic. An ideal state is achieved when you have enough of it to provide the rule of law, but not so much as to become a host-killing nanny state. This would be a favorable symbiosis. Here's the tough part: How do you control the infection of government to the benefit of both bodies without the government bercoming the runaway parasite that ultimately kills the host?

Here in Colorado, we had a TABOR amendment which limited the governments growth in income to the increase in population plus inflation. The state was taken over by the Dems in 08, and with both houses, the governorship and the media, the voters were convinced to give this up, with predictable results.

Perhaps a constitutional amendment limiting government expenditures to a fixed percentage of the previous years GDP. If the government wants more money, they better do whatever boosts the GDP this year, or forgo the wish list for next year.

Geek cites an article here in which the lefts poster child, Sweden, is examined in some detail, and comes out looking not so wonderful. The official Swedish unemployment rate of 6% is examined, and it turns out they use many of the same techniques the US government uses to minimize the number.

A researcher at the main trade union, LO, recently left his job when he was not allowed to publish his estimate that close to 20 percent of Swedes are unemployed, either openly or hidden in labor-market projects, long-term sick-leave and early retirement.

The nasty catch seems to be that when a large percentage of the population is out of work, on some government subsidy or other, and sees no probability of finding work, then extending the government benefits becomes the most viable way of making a living, and there are always politicians willing to promise more government cheese in return for another term in office.

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