Sunday, June 29, 2014

Mark Steyn Explains Slooooowly Why We Fight

Mark Steyn has a great post up about the IRS:

Letting the IRS Get Away With It

But it's not just about the IRS.

This is about all of the fights against the creeping totalitarianism in ostensibly "free" countries. This is about the freedoms and the liberty that has already been slowly eroded in our democracies. It's about bureaucrats yielding extraordinary powers to ruin the lives of ordinary citizens-with no due process and no punishment.

Liberty is encroached upon by bureaucrats in very incremental ways, little drips and drabs until one day you find yourself asking permission to give your own children lunch or being afraid to make donations to good causes that you believe in.

So in a nutshell:

"So, when it comes to the leaking of donor lists, we're not dealing with anything "theoretically" or "potentially" "troubling". These guys act on this information, and act hard, and they are willing to destroy your life for a hundred bucks."

"This is nothing to do with whether you support or oppose same-sex marriage. This is about whether you support free speech, public advocacy, private advocacy and ultimately - one day soon - the sanctity of the ballot box, and whether you oppose a culture of partisan thuggery."

Steyn is 100% correct.

That is why no battle is really too small.

It's like conservative economic principles-if you worry about the pennies, the dollars take care of themselves.

If you worry about small, seemingly innocuous incursions into your personal liberty, the larger, more egregious ones will not be able to fester and thrive.

It's also why there is no one saviour-so don't wait for one. Everyone has to fight the small fights, doing what they can, and not what they can't.