crisis and the state have a long, happy relationship. the state and its various interventions are a virtual crisis machine. wherever the state exists, crises will abound. the current financial crisis, the terrorism crisis, the immigration crisis, the budget crisis, etc. were all created by the state. in the real world, where we live (as opposed to the fantasy land of government) failure and ineptitude on such monumental levels might serve as a clue that some change is necessary in day to day operations. for those of us of the legitimate class (private citizens), failure serves the purpose of pointing out our shortcomings for improvement. the state, on the other hand is quite different.
when we create crises in our own lives there exists great incentive to avoid repeating the behavior that led to such circumstances. the state, on the other hand, thrives on the crises it creates. it is able to use those crises to constantly increase power and transfer wealth from society to the political class and the politically connected. because it takes on the role of educator to the masses, the state informs us that the crisis is the result of anything but the state itself and that the state is, of course, the only solution to whatever the problem is (as if the state has ever solved any problems). the fawning and fearful populous frantically gives up its rights in the desperate search for security, even for the illusion of it.
take the case of terrorism. the state created the problem by interfering in foreign countries through regime change and sanctions and all types of imperialist belligerence resulting in the injury and death of hundreds of thousands of individuals with nothing to lose in poor, third-world countries. consequently, some of those people decide to take revenge on the imperialist through various acts of terrorism. the state is now happy! it can now go about waving the bloody clothing of terrorism victims in the faces of the people accompanied by threats of more to come if they don’t consent to the state’s furthering of such practices that led to the threat in the first place. so, they and their politically connected buddies get to go around the world “fighting the war on terror” by blowing up poor, defenseless nations and having the politically connected companies building the bombs and war machines to wreak the destruction and, afterward, having such companies rebuild the damaged cities at an extremely high rate, all paid for, of course, by those frightened sheep back home in america.
another good example is the current financial crisis. purely a product of the state as was mentioned here and here. the state seeks to scare the populous into submission by dire predictions of the future if action isn’t taken by the state to correct the problem. but, as with the terrorism crisis, the actions it takes will be the very same ones that created the crisis in the first place, thereby ensuring that the scam will be perpetuated. money is taken from the people “for their own good” and redistributed to the politically connected. just that easily, the state accomplishes its eternal goal of transferring wealth and power from the citizens to the political class and the politically connected.
all that needs to be done is to ensure that the populous is uneducated and in a constant state of fear and the schemes of crisis will be massively profitable for the schemers. as h. l. mencken stated, “The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.” so, the next time you hear of the state’s next crisis creation, get ready to open your wallet and surrender even more of your freedom (if there’s any left to take).