As we are in the heat of the binneal Primary Season, while the “soft” ceasefire in the Ami-Iran War staggers on, while there are rumors of a ceasefire in this phase of the Lebanese Conflict, our minds of course turn to the wonders and benefits of government.

If we are honest (and love God and/or liberty), it is a pretty short list. And nothing on the list is anywhere close to balancing the immense cost and negative attributes that government enjoys.

Government is great at making people miserable. It is great at making a few people very powerful, and very rich. And a large, much larger number, of people poor to very poor, and with so little power over their own lives that society treats them as the monsters if they dare do anything that isn’t approved, stamped “acceptable” and (of course) generates money and more power for that tiny minority.

If we ignore the government (and other) propaganda about what government claims to be doing?

Well then! Government works very, very well, at just those things. It all depends on your point of view.

The clownish behavior, claims, and words of those in politics and in government are very effective, when you look at it that way.

Here is just one example (an older one), from Fortune.com:

If, and again, we emphasize “if,” the goal of the War on Some Drugs was to reduce the use (and resulting hideous effects) of recreational pharma in the US (much less anywhere else)? A trillion dollars and decades of open warfare in Mexico, Columbia, and elsewhere has failed. Failed incredibly. Failed in absolutely amazing ways.

But if the goal of this vast expenditure of resources, constant death, and so much more is to make as many people as possible miserable, poor, abused, fearful, while making a few fortunate (and frankly, evil) people wealthy, powerful, and even glorified and popular? Amazing success. Incredible accomplishments.

We could point out the same thing about the Pandemic Panic over beer flu, the entire century-long series of wars, crises, “solutions” and threats to life and liberty in the Middle East, and of course, what we see every day in DC, and in States like California and Massachusetts.

And of course, we can see it in our local town and city halls, county courthouses, and Statehouses. This is obviously going gangbusters right now, in this nightmare Americans are put through every two years.

Elections.

For many of us, the first thing that comes to mind is attributed to Mark Twain: “If voting made any difference, they wouldn’t let us do it.” (Or something to that effect.)

But there is much more.

George Bernard Shaw (no, not a mass murderer, even though everyone always states all three of his names) is reported to have argued, “Democracy is a device which ensures that we shall be governed no better than we deserve.” Sounds about right: another reason to dispise democracy.

H. L. Mencken, well known for his cynicism, didn’t think much of democracy either. He called it “the worship of jackasses by jackasses.” (Hmmm. Did you vote in a primary election yet this year?)

He also noted, “An honest politician will not be tolerated by a democracy unless he is very stupid.” So where does that put dishonest politicians who are very stupid?

How well does this observation fit the States in 2026? “When a stupid government is elected in a democratic country, the best thing about this is that you learn the number of stupid people in that country!” Mehmet Murat Ildan (who? dunno) said that. And it is a reasonable thing to believe.

As lovers of liberty, perhaps our challenge is to help people stop being stupid. Part of that is getting them to recognize what human governments, ultimately, really do so very, very well.