Merry Christmas! Here's your semi-automatic weapon!

One of the people I worked with just asked me today about what the Libertarians were saying about Obama.

Now, I don't like McCain, and I think the Republicans have caused a lot more harm than the Democrats. I think Obama's election was an important moment that needs to be celebrated because of its historic character.

Yet, my straightforward answer to that question was that I haven't been keeping up much with the libertarian news and blogs as of late, since I'm hardly home any more, but that I was sure no libertarians believed that Obama would advocate for a libertarian agenda.

His response was something about how people want bigger government in times of crisis. I'm not sure if he meant to imply the reverse of that as well - that people want smaller government in good times.

I really don't think people ever want big government. I think people want to be left alone, and they want more money. They want both of those things, neither of which are automatically bad. But people have also been indoctrinated into the whole carrot-and-stick system of promises of a glowing future if they will continue to either support (or ignore the growth of) big government.

The techniques of indoctrination involve a media that is, in fact, regulated by the government - through agencies like the FCC and through programs of disinformation. It involves the public school system, run by government agencies, that naturally teaches people not to question authority, and has at least the harmful potential interest in keeping subsections of the population uneducated and easily manipulated for the benefit of others.

The government also has an interest in keeping us hooked on its power- like a drug. So, just like neighborhood mob thugs, the government will tax us "for our own good", until we become so used to paying this money, that we think less and less of it. Whether the taxes come in the form of income taxes or inflation, either way, we spend more and more of our time in subservience to an ever-growing authoritarian system. It makes things more pleasant by giving us tax refunds, just at the time we need to be a little more happy. The regulated media is able to keep us distracted by reporting human interest stories on the news (fuzzy cats rescued from trees, the latest celebrity breakups, and the like) while allowing politicians to offer spin and dodge questions.

So, the government is able to create a specific culture that keeps those who participate it in power. Our culture is so used to the idea of government control of so many aspects of our lives that we don't even acknowledge the baseline of control and servitude that we buy into - simply because we are born into this world. They call this a "social contract", saying that we must follow their plans simply because we continue to breathe.

Even today, I hear about how some in the gay community are pressing for laws to make marriage solely a civil institution, so that religious bodies can't be involved in it. This can only happen in a culture that is completely comfortable with government control - and is prime evidence that now we trust the government more than we trust even our religious institutions. We're willing to damage our religious institutions for the sake of promoting government power.

How sad.

While I think that the past 8 years under President Bush have been truly horrible for our country, this does not make Barack Obama any type of savior. He will be the President. He is not Jesus.

And yes, let's tell the truth here, we want a savior right now, and we'll glom onto somebody who inspires us. We need inspiration and we need hope, and Obama offers both of those things. Let's first acknowledge that these are very valuable and important to us right now - but let's also tell the truth and say that they are platitudes. Laudable platitudes, but still platitudes.

What is really going to change for us?

Are we going to see an end to the war in Iraq? Doubtful. Perhaps there will be some troop withdrawls and then a lot of spin. Maybe a great press conference and photo op . . . But after the dust settles, we quietly continue to occupy that country while the government distracts the news media with some other event. And, poof! The war in Iraq is over!

Will we see the economy improve? No way. The bailout is already a failure, and we're throwing even more money at the problem. Our country is going to go bankrupt, because the free market, like freedom, always wins in the end - it just extracts a very high cost along the way.

(By the way . . . Do you have your guns yet? How about your solar- and wind-powered compound built from old tires and soda cans out in the desert with a groundwater well, vegetable garden, rainwater collectors, water purifier, fallout shelter, barbed wire fencing, and arsenal? You may need it . . . the criminals are already well-armed, and the cities are full of millions of people who will get very angry when they're hungry. Hope you've practiced your paramilitary maneuvers . . .)

Will we see healthcare for everybody? Well, no, we don't have any money to pay for that - unless we find a 60% flat tax tolerable - and we spend our lives filling out government paperwork in the hopes of getting some of it back.

So, I don't know what other libertarians think of Obama. But I can guess . . . more of the McSame.

I'll take fries with that . . . and a side of bullets.