When Not Getting What You Pay For Is Preferred

by James E. Miller
Mises Canada
Apr. 20, 2015

In his book Bourbon for Breakfast: Living Outside the Statist Quo, libertarian writer Jeffrey Tucker sagaciously noted that we Americans “really don’t get all the government we pay for, and thank goodness. Lord protect us on the day that we do.”

You can say that again. And again. And again. The federal government spends trillions of dollars a year, and for what? Health care for seniors, some parks, an inefficient postal service, and a military that seems to exist everywhere else on earth but the homeland. I’m no economist, but I’d wager that taxpayers get somewhere close to half of what they pay for. And they should be grateful it’s not any more.

Case in point: Florida mailman Doug Hughes, who recently piloted a gyrocopter onto the grounds of the U.S. Capitol. In a publicity stunt meant to deliver letters urging campaign finance reform, Hughes made it through protected airspace, around the National Mall, and to the West Lawn without incident. He was summarily confronted by police and taken into custody. But until he touched down, Hughes was unimpeded. Presumably, he blasted Lynyrd Skynyrd while piloting his way to notoriety.

So why is it a good thing that a man can pull off such a crazy stunt like flying a gyrocopter close to Congress and not be shot down like a World War I biplane? According to aviation expert Jeffrey Price, the government doesn’t typically waste its firepower on small fries. That didn’t stop South Carolina senator and warmonger extraordinaire Lindsey Graham from demanding that Hughes “should have been subject to being shot out of the sky.” Graham went further, telling radio host Hugh Hewitt “if somebody is willing to, you know, approach vital government infrastructure, they should do so at their own peril.”

In a more rational world, I’d agree with Graham. Government should, at most, protect citizens from threats, foreign and domestic. That’s John Locke 101. But given all the nonsense the U.S. government currently engages in, it’s better that our domestic guardians are no more competent than mall security guards. There are enough noxious doings Washington promotes overseas. We should thank our lucky stars that kind of tomfoolery doesn’t make it back home.

Take the always-on-fire Middle East. Not content to focus our fire on the threat of the Islamic State, the regime-changers in D.C. want American might to topple governments in Iran, Syria, Yemen, North Korea, and eventually Russia. Through a variety of non-governmental organizations, U.S. tax dollars foment the overthrowing of states that don’t fully comply with Uncle Sam. Meddling in foreign affairs is a risky activity for any government. Since, in Charlie Cooke’s words, Britain “handed the baton” of global stability to the U.S. following World War II, America’s track record of maintaining liberal order has been spotty.

Trade relations among the West are swell. Global finance functions with little interruption. The U.S. has a good record of enabling coups for regimes it disagrees with. Many of these victories were the result of luck rather than skill, however. The Soviet Union fell due to its own economic contradictions rather than the Cold War military build-up. China adopted capitalistic methods out of necessity, not American pressure. And these are the successes!

But back in the Middle East, things aren’t so happy-go-lucky. For decades, the birthplace of civilization has gone back and forth between regime collapse, dictatorship, and radical Islamic theocracy. The U.S. implanted the Shah in Iran but that didn’t stop the Revolutionary Guards from taking over. The overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi by NATO forces destabilized the country and led to the death of an ambassador. The failed Iraq War paved the way for Islamic State radicals. Afghanistan is still a hellhole even after being occupied for over a decade.

Despite these mishaps, America is still the world’s strongest superpower. We demand obeisance to our values and business interests. Should foreign nations resist, we have plenty of means to incentivize cooperation. The use of brutal force is not beyond America’s grasp.

Considering all that, how can a man in a rickety aircraft make it within a few hundred yards of our elected officials unmolested? Or, as conservative writer Matt Lewis asks:

“Shouldn’t a superpower be able to control the air space in its capital city? … And are there larger implications we are to draw from the demonstrable fact that we can’t?”

Yes, there are larger implications that we can draw. Namely: American taxpayers get a raw deal from their government. The gyrocopter incident is just one in a series of bumbling errors committed by both the Capitol Police and the Secret Service. There was the White House fence jumper who made it to the front door before being detained last fall. A toddler recently snuck under a bike rack near the grounds, causing a lockdown. Then there was the night in 2011 when a man fired a semi-automatic rifle at the White House and got away with it. And just a few weeks ago, a man shot and killed himself in front of Congress.

Honestly, Curly, Moe, and Larry could do a better job of keeping the peace in America’s capital. than the guys we have now. It just goes to show that whether it’s the Department of Motor Vehicles or the Secret Service, government is inherently languid and inept. And given its propensity for careless violence, perhaps we’re better off with incompetence.

In a sense, it’s nice that a disturbed but harmless man can land a small aircraft on the lawn in front of Congress without being blown to smithereens. Then again, it raises doubt about the government’s ability to prevent another 9/11-style attack. Seeing as how onlookers and pedestrians stopped many of the attempted terrorist attacks on U.S. since the Twin Towers fell, we’d be much better off protecting ourselves rather than look to the Department of Homeland Security. By doing that, we can maintain the semblance of freedom in a country that is increasingly authoritarian. And just maybe we won’t lose the Republic by bringing all that disastrous military adventurism back home.
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James E. Miller is editor-in-chief of Mises Canada and a regular contributor to the Mitrailleuse . Send him mail