I Can Lead This Country?

Sometimes I feel like other people must be getting some other meaning out of the words I am hearing.  The things people are saying make no sense to me.

Today Marco Rubio announced he is running for election as President of the United States, saying "I can lead this country."

This sentence makes absolutely no sense to me, at least if it's supposed to inspire me to support Mr. Rubio.  Am I supposed to think that what "this country" is lacking is leadership?  Is that supposed to be something we all agree is the great need right now - leadership?

It sounds just like panel nine in this illustrated abridgement of F. A. Hayek's "The Road to Serfdom."  If you haven't read that, you really should, and you might follow up by reading Economics in One Lesson by the brilliant Henry Hazlitt.

In my mind, nobody educated is looking for "leadership."  The main problem we are facing is not a lack of leadership - it's the presence of leadership.  Unfortunately we are not free to prosper; we are beholden to a parasitic ruler class that styles itself "leaders" and wrongly fancies itself our benefactors.

I know what I want to do, and for the most part I know how to achieve it, and when I do not know, I know who I like to ask for help.  I don't need to be led.  It's extremely patronizing for anyone to think we will be inspired to like them when they offer to lead us.

So why isn't everybody up in arms about it?

Dear Senator Cruz

Dear Senator Cruz,

I am a fundamentalist Christian from Texas.  I will not be voting for you as President, or anyone else.  Please get out of my life.  Thank you.

Imagine a President who sides with Israel?  Frankly, I'd like to imagine a President who doesn't side with Israel.  Better yet, I'd like to imagine a permanent vacancy in the Presidency, or secession for Texas, secession for my county, and secession for my household.  Maybe I sound a bit like a hippie, but since you've got me started imagining, I'll visualize world peace.  Of course, it will only happen if people quit letting others have the power that you have and are seeking.

Down with Mordor, down with the Presidency, down with your office.

P.S. to any Democrats reading: I won't be voting for you, either.

Why I don't vote

I don't vote because I don't believe in the offices that we are voting to fill.  I don't believe we should even have those offices.  I don't believe anybody should have the powers of those offices.  I view emptying or eliminating these offices as a worthy goal, and I view voting as a detriment to that goal, because it legitimizes those offices.  I view not voting, and telling people that I am not voting and why, as the best option for proceeding toward my goal.

As a Christian I am glad for the opportunity to get involved in the process, and I do so by not voting so that I can advance what I think is the best goal for the land: eliminating the existing political offices.  I would welcome the ability to have more input in the process, such as a chance to vote to leave offices empty, or a chance to secede.  Failing that, I'm grateful for what I can get: the opportunity to make a difference by declaring how important it is to eliminate the existing monopoly government.