There Is No Government

The conversation somehow managed to worm it's way into a political discussion, my least favorite topic of discussion.

Mainly because most people only want to talk politics in order to spew out propaganda that favors their own political opinions, or their favored politicians.

Sure, some of the propaganda is well thought out, reasoned, agreeable, and maybe even appealing, but it's still propaganda.

Rarely (in my experience) is the propaganda a true personal opinion - it's usually just a rehash of some narcissistic megalomaniac's ideas on how the world (or country, state, city, neighborhood, etc.) should be run.

And I just don't have time (or patience) for that crap.

I do know a number of people I can have calm, rational political discussions with, conversations that don't devolve into name calling or mudslinging, but the guy I was talking with was not one of them. 

I was quickly beginning to understand that he was, for all intents and purposes, a political evangelist, dutifully spreading the word of his favored political party.

Full disclosure: I hate political parties, all of them, even the one I have been loosely affiliated with since 1984.

To cut to the chase, the topic of conversation became political the second he started in with "the government doesn't want that to happen - the government needs to keep people in line."

Whenever anyone starts a discussion with the assumption that there is an entity out there that is "the government"...well, my opinion of them drops considerably and I start looking for an exit.

Someone, somewhere was the first person to use the term "government" in the sense that the elected representatives and the hired bureaucracy constituted an almighty hive mind that acted in unison to manipulate the citizenry, and that person should be forever cursed by all humanity.

Because that first person has forever enabled individuals who are employed by the government to act as if they are the government, and avoid all accountability for whatever actions they take while simply being an employee of the government.

And that distinction is incalculably important.