Freedomain Radio - Stefan Molyneux - 1910 The State as Family (audio for a video)
Aired: 2011-05-18
Duration: 06:20


=== Parents as Providers (05:48) ===

[00:00:01]  Most kids want stuff.
[00:00:03]  Toys, candy, electronics.
[00:00:06]  And of course they want their parents to pay for it.
[00:00:09]  They have the idea that daddy and mommy just sort of have money.
[00:00:16]  If you ask most little kids where that money comes from, they will say daddy works or mommy works, but they don't really get it.
[00:00:24]  They don't really think about the future or deferring gratification.
[00:00:29]  And they really don't understand what it means in the long run if their parents go into debt.
[00:00:38]  Most voters want stuff.
[00:00:40]  Pensions, health care, welfare.
[00:00:42]  And of course they want the government to pay for it.
[00:00:46]  They have the idea that politicians just sort of have money.
[00:00:52]  If you ask most voters where that money comes from, they will say, uh, my taxes?
[00:00:57]  But they don't really get it.
[00:00:59]  They don't really think about the future or deferring gratification, and they really don't understand what it means in the long run if their government goes into debt.
[00:01:12]  Parents often say that their kids should obey them because they pay the bills and, in particular, own the house.
[00:01:19]  As long as you live under my roof, you'll live by my rules.
[00:01:22]  If you don't like it here, feel free to leave.
[00:01:25]  Of course, it's very hard for children or teenagers to leave home, so the threat is fairly empty, but it seems to squelch debate anyway.
[00:01:34]  Patriots often say that citizens should obey the government because it provides services and, in particular, because it runs the country.
[00:01:42]  If you live in this country, you obey the rules.
[00:01:45]  America, love it or leave it.
[00:01:48]  Of course, it's very hard for people to leave a country and go where?
[00:01:53]  To another tax cage?
[00:01:55]  So the threat is fairly empty but seems to squelch debate anyway.
[00:02:01]  In general, parents will take feedback from their children but kids don't get any kind of binding vote.
[00:02:10]  Parents also often bribe children to comply and punish them if they disobey, neither of which is any kind of rational argument.
[00:02:21]  Governments will take feedback from their citizens, but citizens don't get any kind of binding vote.
[00:02:27]  Governments also bribe citizens to comply and punish them if they disobey, neither of which is any kind of rational argument.
[00:02:37]  Children who are spoiled with appeasement and unrealistic expectations will throw temper tantrums whenever their bribes are limited in any way.
[00:02:48]  Government dependents who are spoiled with appeasement and unrealistic expectations will throw temper tantrums whenever their bribes are limited in any way.
[00:02:59]  Patriotic propaganda explicitly references the family and uses parental metaphors all the time.
[00:03:08]  The founding fathers.
[00:03:11]  The Department of Homeland Security.
[00:03:15]  The first lady.
[00:03:17]  The first lady most of us meet is our mother.
[00:03:20]  The fatherland in Germany.
[00:03:23]  Mother Russia.
[00:03:26]  The strict father, Republican, and the caring mother, Democrat.
[00:03:31]  Uncle Sam and home rule.
[00:03:36]  Soldiers are brothers in arms.
[00:03:40]  Stalin was father of the country.
[00:03:43]  Mao was the father of the Chinese Revolution.
[00:03:46]  David Ben-Gurion was the father of modern Israel.
[00:03:49]  Golda Meir was the mother.
[00:03:52]  And what's more American than mom and apple pie?
[00:03:57]  Just look at the parallels.
[00:03:59]  My country, right or wrong?
[00:04:02]  And blood is thicker than water.
[00:04:07]  The arguments are almost identical.
[00:04:10]  If you receive government services, you owe obedience to the government.
[00:04:14]  Just as if you take food and shelter from your parents, you owe obedience to your parents.
[00:04:21]  Your parents own the house, so you have to obey them or leave.
[00:04:26]  The government owns the country, and so you have to obey it or leave.
[00:04:33]  These arguments make no sense.
[00:04:36]  But we all hear them a thousand times from our parents, so when politicians repeat this crap, it's almost impossible to resist because it's been so deeply ingrained in our brains.
[00:04:47]  This is why people take politics so personally, because they're really talking about their families.
[00:04:55]  Numerous studies show that political biases tend to occur at the unconscious level, in patterns formed during early childhood.
[00:05:06]  Don't you see the pattern?
[00:05:09]  The government is an effect of the family.
[00:05:15]  People try to change governments all the time, from the top down, using politics and laws and lobbying and voting, and it never really works.
[00:05:25]  If you want to change the government, change the family.
[00:05:31]  If you want a more peaceful society, have more peaceful families.
[00:05:38]  Very, very few people can view politics outside the lens of their own family histories.

=== Change the Family (00:30) ===

[00:05:49]  Children eventually grow up and understand working, salaries, income, and debt.
[00:05:57]  Most voters never do.
[00:06:03]  Most voters view government finances the way a five-year-old views his parents' money.
[00:06:10]  And the reason for that is simple.
[00:06:15]  Government schooling starts around the age of five.