Vicious Cycle: How Government “Solutions” Spiral into Bigger Problems

By Joe Jarvis

Government creates a problem. Government becomes more authoritarian to solve that problem. This creates more problems. Government becomes even more authoritarian…

This is basically the story of the war on drugs, the oppression of teens, the wars in the middle east, every bubble, burst, and bailout, ad infinitum.

Where the government intervenes, you can be sure that bigger problems will spring forth.

Like the Hydra of Greek Mythology, two more serpent heads sprout each time one is severed.

Denmark Considers Draconian Measures to Assimilate Immigrants

European countries have been quite liberal in accepting immigrants from the Middle East. In itself, this is not a problem. But the countries also liberally dole out public benefits, costing taxpayers ballooning sums to support the new population.

But now many countries want to attach strings after the fact.

Denmark has proposed new rules that could land immigrant parents in prison if they take their children on extended vacations to their homeland which interfere with schooling. The legislation leaves “extended” open to interpretation.

Other rules require children from any of 25 identified “ghettos” to attend 30 hours of daycare per week until age six. Parents will lose welfare benefits if their kids miss too much school.

Another rule would make penalties for the same crime in certain areas. So if you shoplift in a predominantly Danish area of a city, you might get a fine, while a shoplifter from a predominantly Muslim area could get jail time.

All of this is an attempt to integrate new immigrants. It is a backlash from vastly different cultures clashing.

But why would the government of Denmark think forced integration would produce the desired results? It seems more likely to produce a counter-backlash from immigrants who resent having different rules than the Danes.

Immigration wouldn’t be such an issue if it weren’t for governments’ collectivist policies. We are artificially grouped together by governments when we live within particular borders. So then suddenly we have a common interest with people who might share none of the same goals and values.

This obviously creates problems. But the problem is not the immigrants. The problem is that the government wants one cohesive block of citizens to govern.

And that the government redistributes money from one group to another… And that the government fails to protect citizens from violent criminals while preventing citizens from protecting themselves!

Private property solves these problems. It means people can make rules that apply to their own land. For businesses, this means allowing the market to dictate what rules customers are willing to put up with. For individuals, it may mean grouping with other like-minded people to live in a neighborhood which matches your wants and needs.

This is what happened with many past waves of immigrants to the United States. Many Italians, Irish, Chinese, and Cubans settled in particular areas. These areas were not integrated by force, but a couple of generations smooths out most differences.

Ohio Wants to Force Teachers to Out Trans Kids

I’ve made my opinion clear: allowing kids to get sex changes or take body-altering hormones is child abuse.

Advocates intentionally confuse the difference between gender and sex. They say gender is a social construct, and then they attempt to alter biological sex. That is not possible at this stage. You cannot change the chromosomes in your DNA which determine sex.

However, lawmakers in Ohio reacted to this movement with absurdly authoritarian legislation.

They want to threaten teachers with prison if they don’t immediate out trans kids to their parents.

The law says that if a public educator finds out that a student identifies as transgender, they must tell the parents in writing at the earliest possible opportunity.

If a teacher fails to disclose this sensitive piece of information, they can be charged with a felony.

This is completely over the top.

The bill is aimed at preventing teachers, social workers, and other government workers from delivering slanted or harmful “treatment” for gender dysphoria.

This is understandable. I certainly wouldn’t want the public education system filling my kid’s head with anti-science propaganda about gender and sex.

But even being a supportive listening ear can get a public employee in trouble if they don’t rat out the kid to the parent. “Treatments” also include literature about the disorder.

But none of this would be an issue without public education. This wouldn’t be an issue if governments were not promoting the lie that you can choose and alter your sex (as opposed to gender).

And it certainly wouldn’t be a problem if parents were not threatened by the state for refusing to allow life-altering surgery and medications for their trans children.

And that is what is aggravating about the draconian aspects of the law. Otherwise, it makes sense. The law seeks to “prohibit a court from using a parent, guardian, or custodian’s refusal to allow a child to undergo gender-based treatment as a basis for determining custody of the child.”

Basically, you can’t have your kids taken away for refusing to allow them to mutilate their bodies with surgery and chemicals.

But forcing teachers and guidance councilors to rat out any transgender kids to their parents, regardless of the consequences, is too much. They’ve gone beyond rational, and are making inaction a crime.

But this is the type of friction inherent in anything that involves government. When you force people to fund an education system and force parents to send their kids, you get legislative reactions like these.

The Solution

These problems stem from shared resources like public land, public schools, and government welfare.

First, the government says it will solve a problem with government funds. But that means everyone gets a say. Well everyone isn’t going to agree!

Better to allow individuals to allocate their own resources. That way individuals choose what issues they will have a say in.

Send your kid to a school that matches your ideas about gender and sex.

Live in neighborhoods that match your idea of community.

Patronize businesses you agree with. Deal with customers you like.

Make the rules for your own private property, and take your protection into your own hands. Decide what kind of charity you will support.

Of course, the government makes it difficult to do all this. But that doesn’t mean it is impossible. You have more power today than individuals ever have.

You can read more from Joe Jarvis at The Daily Bell.

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