Lying is both an essential and favorite tactic of statists. Regardless of their “political orientation.”

Here are a few of their biggest lies in recent years. (Admittedly, some are older but keep getting used.) How many of these have you heard recently? How many of these did you once believe? Think carefully: are we still deluded into believing some of these?

1. Government is “of the people, by the people, and for the people.” It sounds good, but coercive, involuntary, mandatory government has NEVER been about anything, ultimately, than control of “the people” by an often self-selected elite who hold power.
2. Democracy is the best form of government. In reality, there is NO “best form” of human government, unless it is self-government (and that is a big problem in and of itself). Democracy is based on the idea that any individual is incapable of governing themselves, but if a majority of people IS capable – and can elect someone to govern everyone. Huh?
3. Government protects you and other people, and it therefore must have great power. What a great excuse: and not true. Governments KILL and INJURE more people than any other organizations or groups. That is the reason that people go power mad. As one wise person put it recently, “The reason power madness grows so fast is that those who desire power grab at whatever small amount they can, and it is never enough. They always want more.”
4. The purpose of government is to keep the people safe and secure. No indeed, as the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and every other document of human liberty – including the Bible – state: the only possible justification for human government is to protect the RIGHTS of the people. In reality, government exists so that people can exercise power over other people (and because they want to be top dog, or as close as possible). And at most, government protects those in power, whatever it does to those who are not.
5. The primary responsibility of elected officials is “to do the will of the people.” Again, as with #10, the primary reason for the existence of officials is to preserve and protect the RIGHTS of the people.
6. “I’m from the government and I’m here to help you.” Yeah, right. Help themselves to whatever they want, maybe.
7. Reducing the number of legal guns in a community reduces gun violence and suicide in the community. Data, when looked at objectively, shows the opposite to be true: a high presence of guns AND open/concealed carry being common reduce the frequency of violence. And people can always find an “easy” way to off themselves. This lie is an excuse for stealing weapons from peaceful and responsible owners (99%+ of all gunowners).
8. Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society. – Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes. Nothing could be farther from the truth: civilizations (overrated as they may seem at times) and civil societies have existed for centuries with little or NO taxes. Voluntary transactions and voluntary donations to support civic institutions can and do work.
9. The bills and coins you have in your wallet and the numbers you have in your bank accounts are real money. Sure, you can (for now) still buy things with those little green pieces of paper – or that plastic that communicates with your bank and changes the electronic database. But it AIN’T really money. Gold and silver are REAL money. Dollars (whichever country’s dollar) and Pounds and Euros and Pesos? Debt. Worth something – whatever the central banks and the market and the powers-that-be say. But NOT something that will keep their value. (To me, crypto-currency is still a to-be-proven sort of thing.)
10. Progress in society, technology, and wealth is constant and eternal. Never again will there be a dark age. We are almost certainly NOT at the end of history. Even as you read this, there are societies and nations that are descending into darkness: where most or all of the characteristics we associate with “civilization” are disappearing. Some peacefully and some violently.
11. Ancient people were stupid, ignorant, and we can learn nothing from them. Those who teach this, explicitly or implicitly, include the Founding Fathers of these States. Yes, we have found and developed a lot of science, technology, engineering, medicine, and even understanding of society. But humans have not changed internally.
12. The State/Nation is more important than any individual or small group. The entire concept of the state regardless of its form of government is that somehow people as a group are more important than the individual importance of any person or combination of persons in that group. Which of course makes no logical sense. Even though it is recognized as a fundamental belief of national socialism and international socialism, in reality, it is the foundation of any human, mandatory government.
13. Any problem can be solved by throwing enough (more) money at it. This seems to be both an outright lie – as we see in the education system, but also an excuse for more and more government theft and waste.

There are, of course, many other lies that statists come up with and use to justify their acceptance and promotion – even worship – of the state, of government, and of the idea that government and the state are essential to civilization, survival, prosperity, and… most ironic: peace. Which is perhaps, the greatest lie of all that the statists speak and believe.