Free Lunch

This is a short piece written by my husband. Enjoy.

"I have heard that, in the old days of the United States, politicians would buy the votes of the people. This is a bartered-for exchange that recognizes the vote as valuable. I suppose it can be traced back to the times of chieftains, where a chief would demonstrate his greatness by holding a feast or banquet out of his own property so that warriors would pledge themselves to him. Nowadays, every other time I check the mail, a very wealthy politician is asking for money so that we can make them even wealthier without demonstrating any practical effectiveness or value besides saber rattling or rabble rousing. At least give us a free lunch out of your own personal wealth to demonstrate your greatness. I am hungry. Why should you enjoy all the $500 per plate banquets? Instead, these so-called great statesmen/stateswomen are asking basically for a free $25 lunch or $50 dinner every couple weeks from people much worse off than themselves.

Kennedy said, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." He's absolutely wrong. Let me explain. The whole point of cooperation is that two people discover the advantage of working together rather than in isolation. Their combined strength or effort yields a superior result. When people work together but their circumstances do not improve, their actions are not effective. If people are worse off cooperating, where is the incentive to work together? So, if politics is based on collective action, that in the end gives us greater poverty, greater tax liability, more likelihood to be attacked by foreign nations, greater civil unrest or division, more legal restrictions, what good is it? What do we actually get in return for our money and cooperation?

In the movie Fight Club, the two main characters stole fat from a liposuction clinic to turn into high quality soap to sell to people. To paraphrase, "to sell their own fat asses back to them." When politicians promise something, they intend to do it based on the labor and suffering of the people. Any money they give you was yours to begin with, and was stolen from you through taxes or inflation. Any protection they offer you was already your right to begin with. They only stole the right to defend yourself from you, disarmed you, then pledged half heartedly to fight for you. How does it feel to wash in soap made from your own ass?

In ancient times, the greatest kings rode with their own armies, outfitted through their own gold and silver, into battle. They didn't hide behind their bodyguards to be a symbol of weakness for their people. The greatest king this world has ever known offered Himself as a sacrifice to save the world. The magnitude of any leader who wants to rule you should be measured by this standard. The rest are no more than tyrants or bandit chiefs which, throughout history, are as common as grass in the field, or like mushrooms which rise in darkness from shit and are gone the next day, one succeeding the other without end."