McManigal: Dependence on state an addiction

Sometimes it seems we live in a culture of dependency.

Some people are dependent on drugs, while others are dependent on prohibition. Some people are dependent on other people; some are dependent on distractions — electronic or otherwise.

Kent McManigal

And more and more people today are dependent on government.

Being dependent is the opposite of being mature; of being responsible for yourself and accountable for your behavior.

Dependence on government, or its laws, is similar to drug addiction. The long-term solution is the same, as well.

Even if drugs are all around you, the choice of whether to partake is yours.

You must personally make the move to take the drugs or to use the state, regardless of what anyone else is doing.

Don’t blame others’ bad choices for your own. Even if everyone around you is an addict, you won’t be unless you make the first move.

Don’t imagine this will make you immune to the mess surrounding you; you just won’t be making it worse. Being surrounded by government junkies will always be unpleasant.

Don’t confuse dependency with necessities. You naturally rely on oxygen, food, water, and shelter. You can’t live without those things; it’s not an addiction.

I suspect this natural dependence gets used as justification for pretending people require other, less helpful things as well. Becoming dependent on something unnecessary or harmful is tragic. It diminishes your life in ways you won’t understand until you break the addiction.

Don’t trust those who claim relying on government is anything other than an unhealthy dependency spawned by weakness — they are lying.

Once you realize you are dependent on something harmful, the smart move is to begin breaking the addiction. Start now. Ask for help if needed. Don’t wait for a free society, where government has been abolished, to take responsibility for yourself and get sober.

Let your new realization give you motivation to begin exercising self reliance. If you can’t go cold-turkey, begin weaning yourself.

Maybe you can even help others avoid the addiction, or get clean if it’s too late to avoid. To be of any help, you must take care to not let yourself fall into the same trap. How can you expect to help others if you can’t keep your own life in order?

Government is coercion, and is always inferior to voluntary action. Break free of any dependence on inferior ways of getting through life. You’re better than that.

Farwell’s Kent McManigal champions liberty. Contact him at:

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