It’s late at night and I’m reading 12 Rules For Life by Jordan Peterson (Great book by the way. If you haven’t read it yet, go buy it right now. Finish reading me first, and then go buy it.) In the Coda he writes, “It is my firm belief that the best way to fix the world-a handyman’s dream, if ever there was one- is to fix yourself as we discussed in Rule 6. Anything else is presumptuous. Anything else risks harm, stemming from your ignorance and lack of skill.” This made me think about a dinner I had with a prior girlfriend and her parents close to ten years ago. I was wearing a t-shirt that basically hinted at the fact that I agree with the libertarian ideology. Her father asked me about my opinion on drugs and I said they should be legalized. He made the point that if someone got hold of a drug such as heroin, their life could be ruined by their fight with addiction and the negative side effects of using the drug. Wouldn’t it be better if the drug were to be illegal? Certainly they would live a much better life.
On the surface this argument seems to make sense, and its obviously coming from a place of compassion; but here’s what I have to say to that. Heroin is illegal today and yet some people still get a hold of it. The fact of the matter is, some people WANT to use heroin. That problem won’t be fixed by making it illegal and to believe that a person who wants to use heroin will live a much better life by making it illegal, heck even by making it disappear from Earth, is fairly naive. I’m sure they would just as quickly turn to another vice if they had such a strong desire to use such a dangerous drug in the first place.
By making it illegal we simply force it into the black market; operated by some pretty vile people. Its easy to argue for something to be made illegal (more government control) when discussing something as blatantly a bad idea as heroin. However, advocating for the government to step in leads us down a road with dire consequences. We deem it okay for the government to get involved in drugs so we involve them in the next “obvious” issue, and the next. Eventually we run out of obvious issues and move into the realm of personal preference, ideology, and faith. We will have found ourselves split up into tribes arguing about how to use this tool of government to enforce the vision of the world we desire to see.
What right have we to do so? Who are you, in all your mistakes, in all your shortcomings and biases and lack of knowledge and understanding, to mandate through the government how someone should live their life? Who am I to do the same? Our society has allowed the government to become so entrenched in our lives and we are now feeling the consequences. Why must the government educate our children? Why must the government take away so much of our money? Why must the government limit our ability to defend ourselves and our property from other individuals, or better yet, from the government itself? Why must the government dictate the requirements of personal healthcare? Why must the government allow so many people be sent away in uniform for so long, sometimes never to return, or never return the same?
We’ve found ourselves in a mess of a situation. We have allowed the government too much power. We have forgotten what it means to govern. The politicians are not in charge. Congress is not in charge. The President is not in charge, We are. We are ignoring this responsibility. Looking to the government to save us from ourselves. We are exchanging our own personal responsibility with the government for what? Safety? The government can’t guarantee safety. This is Earth. You are human. Nothing is guaranteed, danger is everywhere, and the greatest satisfaction and growth is found not long after the greatest adversity and loss, NOT with safety, let alone “government approved” safety.
To touch back on what Jordan Peterson said, fixing the world is enticing. It sounds nice. Wouldn’t it be so nice if nothing bad ever happened to anyone? Well, if nothing bad ever happened then all the good would mean a lot less, perhaps even nothing. Fixing yourself is the right first course of action and I plan on writing about some examples of where to get started in the future.
By now you may be asking, “But Jeremy, if you don’t think we should focus on fixing the world, why are you writing this blog? Isn’t that a bit hypocritical? Shouldn’t you just shut up and keep your thoughts in your journal?” To that I say, good question. I thought about it to make sure I didn’t miss my own lesson. Obviously we want the world to be a better place, at least most of us probably do. There’s nothing wrong with that. That’s kind. It is not kind to give the government more power and authority over our lives to pursue this. That’s naive. That is dangerous. It seems that so many people are oblivious to this. Today, the loudest voices are screeching in support of censorship and violence. They are intolerant people who’s values are entirely screwed up. We should always value truth and our freedom. The more power we give to the government, the less of those we should expect to see.
Great article! I can’t wait for more to come out.