The potential metaphors and analogies are as limitless as the cosmos, but the “Sun God” power assumptions taken by numerous state and county-level politicians “in preparation” for Monday’s solar eclipse not only reveal truly stellar conceit, they shine light on the ridiculous and unconstitutional “aid” money-grab always tied to “declarations” of “emergency” and “disaster." They also reveal a deeply troubling fact about how many politicians seem to think it’s the role of government to act as “mother hen” because government has slid into so many aspects of what should be private, consensual affairs and assessments.
Along the “path” of the full solar eclipse, American political parasites are taking advantage of that momentary darkness in the sky, In Ohio, Governor Mike DeWine (R) – a man who seemed to see no lockdown or tax-funded-jab enticement that he did not like – has announced from Mount Olympus (aka the Governor’s Office) that he’s declared a “State of Emergency” to, as he says,
“ensure that everyone has a great day.”
In Arkansas, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) has declared a “State of Emergency” until April 10, ordering the “Response and recovery Fund” to give her “Division of Emergency Management” $100,000 because:
“We want to make sure Arkansans and all visitors have an enjoyable experience and come back again and again.”
Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb (R) March 26 issued a similar “State of Emergency” that will last through 11:59 PM on April 9, and numerous politicians (and even judges) in Texas counties and cities have done the same.
It sure is nice to see how kind they want to be to tourists, given that, as if in chorus, these politically-powered players declare the influx of “hundreds of thousands” of Eclipse-watchers as an unusual occurrence that could require more policing on roads, managing of traffic, and visits to their tax-funded parks.
But that presents a long-standing philosophical question many contemporary Americans often avoid. It’s the question of whether politicians, or anyone, can assume for others that they can take their money and spend it on things those citizens, if left free, might not have chosen. The immorality of taking the cash can be the stopping point, but if one would like to explore the matter along other vectors, one can lay out the vast array of “public services” so many Americans now assume are part of the political world, and ask whether the "service" is something that can be, or was, provided by the private market.
Certainly, privately-owned theme parks see tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands, of people visiting each day or every few days. Music festivals see the same. They have no right to demand payments for “security” from people from across a state, people who never attend those events or never ask for entrance into the parks.
Practically, the idea of scalability and management also come into play. Private market incentives for recognizing costs and benefits always reveal what levels of manpower and other resources are beneficial for private gatherings. But government assumptions of those responsibilities smother the cost-benefit signals. In fact, because government actions do not rely on voluntary participation for payment, they logically cannot be claimed to provide any benefit. If people are forced to pay, that power to judge quality is canceled by the state.
Many people don’t want to be roped into this event. They shouldn’t have to pay for others to have an “enjoyable experience,” and by making them pay, the state removes any way to measure the efficacy of its crowd-management/policing system. Does the government spend too much on that? Too little? You cannot ask those questions or withhold your money when the politicians assume they can take it from you for any reason, including what they call “an emergency.”
But it goes deeper, because many people might argue that the state has to manage roads, so they might think that an influx of tourists on the government-run roads throws a “switch” such that the government must tax everyone to handle the new circumstances on those roads.
Related: Rocky Road: Gov't Bureaucrats Berate Rod Stewart For FIXING ROADS | MRCTV
But not everyone uses the roads, nor does everyone use the roads to the same degree or for similar purposes, and to assume that government in America historically always has built and run the roads is tragically erroneous. As Thomas diLorenzo noted in his book, “How Capitalism Saved America” and as I have noted here, for MRCTV, in both Europe and America, roads were started and managed privately, long, long before government got involved, started taking land via eminent domain, then mismanaging the roads even as it sent police onto them to pretend they could breach the Fourth Amendment and search our cars without warrants.
This is all factual, on the ground history, to offer a mild pun, and history already has answered the question of whether private parties can and will build pathways on which people can travel to reach others. If government were the only thing that could facilitate our interest in traveling to visit others or visit stores, how in the world could stores have made access lanes and parking lots, manage them without taxing people, and do better jobs at maintenance than government?
That’s valuable grist for the mental mill. But one more item might give us some perspective on this fraudulent “emergency” fad casting its shadow on so many halls of government.
It’s what you might have guessed. By declaring these “emergencies” the politicians get to syphon cash away from people in other states, via, of course, unconstitutional federal “aid.”
As Cailey Gleeson reports for Forbes:
“State of emergency declarations can trigger several potential means of assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, including individual assistance for small businesses and households, as well as public assistance programs for road systems, public facilities and other emergency protective measures.
On county and city levels, such declarations allow local officials to get assistance from state emergency management agencies—but local and state governments can directly request assistance from the federal government if needed, including asking the president to declare a major disaster, according to FEMA.”
Another eclipse of the US Constitution, another opportunity for some to live at the expense of others.
Perhaps when the light returns, some of the mother-hens and paternalists in politics can read the Constitution, look at history, and stop this kind of parasitic behavior.
It’s doubtful, but, perhaps a widespread recognition of ethics and the Golden Rule might arise, before the next “emergency” eclipse.
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