Government Can Be a Box
So think outside of it!
I think we all get caught up in what government can do for us. When we want something, we see government as a way to get it, and we often forget that it usually can only provide for us by taking liberty from others.
Marriage is a good example of this. Some people want same-sex couples to be allowed to marry. Others believe it should only be between a man and a woman. The core problem is not one option or the other being exercised but merely that the government monopoly on marriage removes the ability of people to make decisions for themselves. If marriage was not a state-issued benefit but instead just a contract or a basic recognition of a loving bond (issued by private organizations, religious and secular), the free market would be left to settle the dispute. Because liberty would not be threatened, there would be no cost in allowing individual organizations to decide who they would issue their certificates to. Religious people who did not support same-sex marriage would get their certificates from organizations that refused to issue certificates to same-sex couples. To counterbalance, same-sex couples might create organizations that only issue certificates to other same-sex couples. Government would go back to enforcing contracts and stop promoting certain contracts over others.
General purchases in the market must be reconsidered as well. The response to bad service or a bad product is often litigation or lobbying. General consumer power is usually ignored, but it is too important to keep overlooking. If you are unhappy with a product or service, do not do business with the organization providing it to you. While many of the issues of our lives are not directly controllable by us (especially because of the control government exerts on us), this is usually something that is controllable. Do not continue doing business with somebody if it is so painful for you. Businesses will not change their products, services, or general processes without a reason to do so. If you will continue purchasing without even lodging a written complaint with them, they have no reason to change. Changing at that point would cost money and time and would not provide a benefit to them.
I no longer shop at Wal-Mart. A few reasons are:
- Employees are rude and do not want to be bothered
- Employees do not know where anything is
- It’s hard to find an employee
- The checkout lines are too long
Meijer and Kroger, on the other hand, tend to have great service. The staff know where everything is and are willing to tell me how to get to it. The checkout lines are never too long, and the cashiers are fast. Returning a defective item is simple. I have been told this is because their employees are compensated well and treated well. I would imagine this is true, but even if it isn’t, these stores are doing something right.
The point is that most people forget or ignore the power they have as consumers. Government is not required to save you from the terrible service of Wal-Mart. Just shop somewhere else. It has worked great for me, and I do not mean that sarcastically. It’s worth an extra drive, because I know my money is going to an organization that provides me with the best possible service I can receive.
Government tends to act as a box. We all get so caught up in the sheer power of the government that we stop considering alternatives altogether. We spend a lot of time and money lobbying the government for fixes for our problems. But simpler solutions are often just around the corner. We just need to hop out of the box for a while.
