Saturday, May 20, 2023

day no. 16,280: know brakes, no breaks; no brakes, know breaks

"Government has become ungovernable; that is, it cannot leave off governing. Law has become lawless; that is, it cannot see where laws should stop. The chief feature of our time is the meekness of the mob and the madness of the government. In this atmosphere it is natural enough that medical experts, being authorities, should go mad." -- G.K. Chesterton, Eugenics and Other Evils

A State with no agreed upon origin story will imagine itself its own creator, but the one thing the self-made always forget to include is limitations. No one builds in brakes. Everyone naturally concerns themselves with horse power, fuel, and acceleration, but none, by nature, considers slowing down.

If you know brakes, you avoid breaks; if you have no brakes, you will know many breaks.

All that to say, unless there is a law that limits the number of laws, the laws will never end. Unless there is Governor above, those who govern below will govern whatever they can get their hands however they feel like governing it. In other words, when those in authority are not under authority, they lose control. The more they try to take control, the more they lose their sense of proportion. The more jurisdiction they grab, the less jurisprudence they retain.

When you become your own standard, you can never go too far. When you are your own brakes, you never slow down. 

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