by Richard A. Cheatham, Press Media Group, LLC

The wise and rational warrior uses the right weapon for each situation. Sometimes the rifle is better than the scattergun, sometimes the reverse. It’s my belief that contemporary Americans are way too eager and willing to use, or sanction the use of, the “nuclear option.” For me, the “nuclear option” should be the last resort, not the first, the second or the third.

The “nuclear option” to which I refer is...government, or force. Consider the government’s own language; the “War on Poverty,” the War on Drugs,” wars on this, that and the other.

Sadly, this “nuclear option” is more and more frequently recommended as the appropriate weapon of first choice to solve problems (and invented artificial problems and “emergencies” made up by marketers and propagandists who profit from and thrive upon more and bigger government). That’s right, laws, regulations, mandates, restrictions, taxes, penalties, subsidies and all other forms of government action are the “nuclear option” for me.

Remember that government can only prevent, force and/or take. That’s it, nothing more. It’s very good at destruction, theft and re-distribution. It isn’t free people using persuasion, creativity and productivity based upon real and broad market demand. It’s a fist, even though often covered by a pretty flowered glove.

As a matter of fact, there’s a guy or gal with a gun behind everything government does, no matter how seemingly benign. A friend of mine reminded me about this the other day. He asked me how many “capital crimes” there were. I told him I didn’t know and he followed up with, “All crimes are capital crimes.” What he meant, of course, was that in any infraction of the law at all, if the perpetrator defends his/her action with as much defensive force as the aggressive force that will be utilized to “enforce” the law, the conflict will eventually escalate to the death of the perpetrator. All laws and taxes are backed up by deadly force. I recommend you do not field test this one. Take my word for it or die.

We avoid applying definitions that may make us “feel bad.” We’re not comfortable considering the fundamental nature of governmental action. We’ve allowed ourselves to be convinced that there is crisis everywhere and that we’re in a perpetual emergency situation requiring the “nuclear option.”

Here’s some homework for you, especially if you don’t believe the “nuclear option” is widely used in our “free” society today. In your daily routine, whatever it is, actively investigate how many people, and what percentage of the people you know and meet, work for government in one way or another. Look for any jobs that result from government funding (taxation), whether as official government jobs or as the millions of government spin-off jobs. If you’re not shocked and/or offended by what you find, you’re part of the problem.

©2005 by Richard A. Cheatham. All rights reserved. Mr.Cheatham is a professional speaker/writer whose weekly column, “Drawing Back The Veil” appears weekly in The Lynchburg Ledger. Mr. Cheatham is syndicated through Press Media Group, LLC, 434-332-2845. Contact him through, Living History Assoc., Ltd., at www.LHALtd.com or DrawBackVeil@aol.com.