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October 10, 2006
The Evil of the “Axis”
It seems to me the problem the world has with North Korea and its dictator
Kim Jong-Il getting nuclear weapons of mass destruction boils down to two main
points. First, North Korea is a communist dictatorship that cannot ever be
trusted, and so its getting such horrible weapons is a horrible threat to most,
if not all of us. Second, it is a clear violation of the Nuclear Proliferation
Treaty (NPT).
The first problem is real but misunderstood, while the second is pure
baloney. It is baloney since the NPT is nothing but a multi-state attempt to
keep the knowledge of how to make nasty nuclear bombs within a small group. The
overall aim of the treaty is not to save human kind from the horrible effects of
nuclear war; it is to save the nuclear power oligarchy from competition. There
is no reason why “new” nuclear powers should be trusted less than current
nuclear powers. Unless you wish to keep the trump card while playing it over and
over in international politics.
The problem of North Korea (and other countries) violating the NPT thus has
nothing to do with us as individuals or citizens of the civilized West. It has
only to do with “our” heads of states wishing to protect their special
powers.
The other problem is the real one: the North Korean government isn’t to be
trusted with lethal weapons. And to be honest, Kim Jong-Il seems like a real
nut. But on the other hand, are there any Prime Ministers or Presidents
who could or should be trusted with such things? Most of them cannot be trusted
with limited powers in government or even with small amounts of money.
The problem here has nothing to do with the specific nature of the North
Korean government, which, I’m sure, is one of the most screwed up on the planet.
It also has nothing to do with the North Korean leader, the cultified Kim
Jong-Il. And it has nothing to do with the official ideology of his totalitarian
state, “communism.”
Rather, it has to do with a much deeper problem. It has to do with the
problem of rule and specifically the structure of government itself. As Lord
Acton so wisely stated, power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
The problem of corruption should be obvious, be it the obvious corruption of
“banana republics” or the more “civilized” campaign contributions and dealings
in parliament. Corrupted people cannot be trusted, who knows who placed the
higher bid and thus gets the full worth of the bribe?
Judging from our politicians, not only does power corrupt; the corrupted are
obviously also attracted by power.
A North Korea with the recently acquired knowledge and ability to produce
nuclear-based weaponry simply points to a much greater and widely spread
problem: the problem with government per se. Since power corrupts, we
cannot trust the ones with power. Then how can we trust them with the weapons to
protect us from foreign threats; especially since we are at the same time
forcefully disarmed by our “protectors.”
The real question here is: Can we trust political power with weapons to
destroy us and our earth? Can government be trusted?
The questions are radical, but it should be obvious we, i.e. humankind, are
in need of some radical change. We have, as a species, had more than a thousand
years of experience of political government. What has it given us?
On the world level the result is at best racism and international “tension,”
but wars and world wars as well. On the domestic level we’re experiencing
excessive taxation and regulation, violations of constitutional rights and
personal integrity, as well as executions and government control of young
people’s minds through public schooling. In other countries, and during wartime,
we’ve seen work camps, torture, and persecution.
The answer should thus be obvious. No, we cannot trust government.
Perhaps we should abolish it altogether and get rid of the danger once and for
all.
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