A vast majority of people have no overriding desire to rule over other individuals. If that were the case, and that was the default position for every individual, then humanity would’ve extinguished itself a long time ago.
Most people live their lives without trying to conquer their neighbor’s land, or break into their neighbor’s house, or pick pockets as others walk by.
The default position is harmony. You do your thing, and I’ll do mine. You leave me alone, and I’ll leave you alone.
Now, of course, there are moments in every person’s life where we slip and do something that is not very libertarian. But, these instances are the exception and not the rule. The lust to dominate others is not the overriding desire that consumes the lives of most individuals.
With that being the case, and because most of us never come in contact with a genuine Napoleon-like person, it can be easy to not fully grasp what all the Little Napoleons in the world are really like.
First, of all, in order to be a Little Napoleon, you can’t do it in the world that everyone else lives in. It’s illegal! You can’t legally rob, steal, cheat, defraud or kill in the real world.
Punishment is a deterrent. So Little Napoleons will seek out areas where punishment can be avoided.
Now, the proper role of government, if one is formed, is for it to protect the liberty of individuals. If some individuals violate the liberty of others (i.e., rob, steal, cheat, defraud or kill) the government steps in to punish them.
Government has no other job beyond that.
Alas, it doesn’t take long for Little Napoleons, of all stripes, to gravitate to government, since government is the use of force. They then warp the role of government and try to bend it to legally do what they can’t do in the real world.
The government is, in essence, transformed from being a protector of Liberty, to becoming the prime aggressor!
When government is an aggressor instead of protector, it means the Little Napoleons have succeeded in their mission. They have eliminated the deterrent of punishment for themselves. They are shielded from it!
And now, the lust to dominate other human beings can be expressed into the real world.
There’s one caveat about the lust to dominate others that everyone should understand. It is NEVER satisfied. There is never a point that is reached where the Little Napoleon says “That’s enough.”
There can be (and are) pauses, where the people can acclimate themselves to the new power grabs. But it is never the end. After enough time passes, a more intense power grab follows.
This has played itself out in history, over and over. It’s the same story, with different faces. The names change, but the principles at play are exactly the same.
The lust that animates today’s Little Napoleons is the same lust that dominated the real Napoleon, and the same that dominated the Roman Emperors, and so on.
There’s only one escape hatch….For the people to guard their Liberty, to speak out the ideas of Liberty, and to call for the government to take on its proper role. Government should be protector and not aggressor. It cannot do what an individual citizen cannot do. Since individuals cannot (rob, steal, cheat, defraud or aggressively kill), government cannot do so either.
There is no right time to start guarding and speaking out for Liberty. There’s no reason to wait for the pain to be greater, which it must be as time goes on. There’s no reason to wait and see what the Little Napoleons have in store for us next.
Now is as good a time as any.
The Champion of Liberty speaks the word.
And that word is Liberty.
