The State as an Abusive Partner
The Psychology of Authority
The Psychology of Authority
(Leo Zaccari, LewRockwell.Com) - Over the course of human history, governments have done some really horrible things: from locking up innocent people, to hiding evidence, conducting secret experiments, or even murder, the State has committed some of the most heinous crimes imaginable and continues to get away with it. Most decent people are horrified when they learn of these atrocities. However, some people continue to defend the actions of the State, even when it has been shown that the State is guilty of the crimes with which they’ve been accused. In this way, people who continue to defend, excuse, and apologize for the State’s actions, are no different than people in abusive relationships who enable their abusive partners.
“Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action.”
~George Washington
First of all, there are obvious examples related to political ideology, such as NY Times writer Walter Duranty defending the atrocities of the Soviet Union or Noam Chomsky trying to minimize the murders committed by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia as “propaganda”. These are the most extreme examples of apologists acting on a political bias. This article is more concerned with those who try to minimize or even lie for the State, simply because they are deluded into thinking that the State itself can do no wrong, because according to them, the State has the right to do anything, which is a faith-based belief that the State is always doing the right thing.
Before we get into a comparison of the State and individuals in an abusive relationship, let’s first take a look at…
