Hunting for Flying Unicorns

Hunting for Flying Unicorns
by Mark Anderson, Columnist

May 30, 2002

Whether on the left or the right, almost everybody can name something they are dissatisfied with. Unfortunately, the majority of the people actually believe that the government can fix some our of problems. Whether it be health care, education, domestic security, the environment or something else, liberals and neoconservatives alike feel that these things are broken and can be "reformed" or "fixed."

I am here to declare that the government fixing anything is non-possumus. The government does not sustain itself by satisfying demands. The government sustains itself by thievery.

Demands and wants are the same thing. If you don't want something, then you don't demand it. If you demand something, then you want it. If you want burgers from your local burger joint and purchase them, eat them, and feel satisfied, then we can rule out the need for anything to be fixed. The same holds true for anything else.

The implication of something being fixed is that your demands, or wants, are satisfied. In order for the government to achieve a condition of something being fixed, then everybody's demands, or wants, must be satisfied.

Demands, or wants, can only be met on the free market. There is no need for the government to compel anybody to purchase what they want. If you want XYZ, under the volition of whom deciding what to purchase will get you XYZ? I would bet that it will not be under the volition of Teddy Kennedy or George Bush that will get you XYZ. It will be under your own. If the government forced everybody to purchase an emachines computer, while the majority may be able to make use of their computer, the true demand preferences of a huge percentage will not be satisfied. Some people may not have wanted a computer at all, while others may have wanted a different brand or a different model.

No politician can cause us to demand, or want, anything. Demands, or wants, are subjective. Each person has their own wants. Also, as startling of a revelation as this may be, politicians are far from psychic. They have no way of knowing what each person wants.

How then, may I ask, is the government capable of fixing anything? Since the target that politicians must aim for, when trying to "fix" something, is satisfying aggregate demands, but it is inherently impossible for the government to quantify, much more satisfy, aggregate demands, then why not just go on a life long hunting trip for flying unicorns instead?

In order for the government to truly fix anything, the government would need to recreate exactly what would happen without government compulsion (the free market). And since it would be done with government compulsion, there would be no way of knowing what would happen without government compulsion. And if the government was somehow actually able to recreate exactly what would happen without government compulsion, then why the need for government compulsion in the first place? ***

Photo of the author courtesy of staff files