While I haven't
made a scientific study of the topic, I suspect the leading genre
for popular entertainment – and for popular delusions of crowds,
for that matter – revolves around magical worlds. As illustration,
the Harry Potter series will serve.
The problem
is that there is no such thing as magic, at least not in the mystical
sense (versus sleight-of-hand variety). Rather, the physical world,
and even the metaphysical world constructed by humans in their ancient
and long-running quest for protection from the physical world, operates
within the boundaries of certain irrefutable truths.
In the first
instance, the laws of physics are only rarely found wanting; in
the second, basic principles of economies are inviolate, or should
be if you actually want an economy to succeed for any length of
time.
This unblinking
faith in an all-caring, omnipotent "Godvernment" is terrifyingly
misplaced: it not only runs contrary to many of those truths but
runs contrary to nearly every important lesson history has to teach.
Look no further than the debts and deficits of Godvernments around
the world to see the consequences of trying to keep this myth alive.
That this faith
is on the increase, versus the opposite, should be very concerning…
both to those who believe in the rights of individuals and to those
trying to build and maintain a reasonable standard of living in
this age of deep uncertainty.
Especially
in that most, if not all, of that uncertainty, as well as active
threats to the general well-being, emanates from the very Godvernments
people look to for salvation and sustenance. The graphic shown here
demonstrates this point vis à vis US security policies
soberingly well.
Now, I am sure
that some of you view these remarks as just another libertarian
tirade, and I guess to some degree, they are.
Yet, I think
there is an important underlying point that requires serious reflection.
Namely, with people the world over trapped in a delusional and self-destructive
cycle of believing that the Godvernments can solve all that ails
– even though almost all that ails is caused or made worse by those
very same institutions – then things can only get worse from here.
