I have railed against government the same way for years. The older I get, the more I hate government. I am now a Libertarian anarchist, a la Murray Rothbard.

I search in vain for the "good" which allegedly comes from government. I easily find the bad which comes from it. Relatively few people seem prepared to do without government, though. Why is this?

It's obvious why bureaucrats love government; it makes them feel superior, privileged, and different from ordinary people. The can be arrogant and imperious under the color of law. Look at Hitler's father. So very proud of being a "civil servant"! And he probably never let people forget it, either! But isn't it interesting that the young Hitler hated the idea of becoming a civil servant?

I am amazed at the people who support, even celebrate the orgy of power which is government. Socialized medicine makes me shudder!

Thank God that governments, like people, have a life cycle. They cannot endure forever. I look forward to the demise of government and bureaucracy.

First thing what I learned in america was that there are 2 clases of citizens: Federal employee credit union, pension funds and so on and rest of us who fight capitalist competition which is actually sin. Then I realized, that there is no traffic law which people learn before get driver's license. And absence of Citizen card is making this world really Kafkaesque when they asking 2 forms of ID. Misery started when they put together driver license with ID. Drivers license is like high school diploma. It is proof that this person went thru proces and test and is able operate motor vehicle on public roads.And in most countries on driver's license there was no expiration as it was important to show citizen card as well. This create unbelievable problems in 21st century. Voter ID on one side. On other side countles foreigners were ticketed as "no driver license" as they showed police international standard driver license from their country. And this absurdity to sending original documents is unbelievable. On Naturalization certificate is writen: It is unlawfull to make copy of this document under penalty. But as for passport they ask COPY of Naturalization certificate.

Actually. I think administration, education and qualification was lot more efective in some communists countries than is in US. Because there was not enough money. High school was enough for administration job, in US college which shortens age of productivity and producing debt- create overeducation. There were specialized high schools-4 years and schools of trade-3 years, so they did not mix good and bad students under one roof. High school for nurses,teachers,engineering. And school of trades for car mechanics,tourism-waitress/chef, construction etc. At age 18 kids had some certificate in hands, but also serious knowledge and were ready for R'n R.
American system is engineered for withdrawing money out of pocket, without doubts. It is serious beaurocratic system even on most primitive things as driver license/citizen card and 2 ID requirements.
In those commie countries they accepted notarized copy of documents, why sending original?

We can get even when they come for the guns. Ha Ha Ha Ha What a joke that will be.

Sorry for the typo:

1: Are you the President of the United States of America.

laceja:

If he ever came to visit my little abode, I'd welcome the opportunity to ask him a few questions. After all, he is a "Constitutional scholar".

1. Are you the President of the United State of America? His answer will be yes.
2. Are you the President of the United States? His answer will be yes.
3. What is the difference? He would probably shut up at that point and leave me be.

Leave me be:

Tell that to Obama.

This is routine with the FedGov. It can only get worse, not better.
Thanks for sharing your personal nightmare. I have several SS cards just in case. Same number of course. Not vaild if not signed. Your mileage will vary.

You may want to consider picking up a copy of Volume 1 of the United States Code from the US Government Printing Office. There you will find all four Organic Laws of the United States of America in one place, along with a listing of all Titles of the United States Code. Once you read all four Organic Laws, in order, and understand how they relate to each other, you will have a useful tool for dealing with most bureaucrats. Unfortunately, there is no magic bullet, but knowledge tends to trump programming and ignorance. One important point to remember is that Americans kicked the King to the curb is 1783. Congress and the President of the United States of America did not replace him. They have not the power.

Your experience with the passport office or DMV or most any other government agency (city, state, Federal) is quite common. Run around and petty annoying rules to comply with.

I'm rather less impressed with your experience with Wells Fargo -- they should know better and I've certainly had better experience(s) with them (though I didn't get a loan, either). It helps if you have a healthy balance on deposit with them... There is a point at which "more affluent" customers are given access to a "private banker" who will do wonders in clearing away some of the bureaucratic overhead. Above $10 million, your account gets handled entirely by the "private bank" department. (Then you don't have to deal with the beginning employees at all... )

In defense of WFB real estate loan department, I suspect that they were simply trying to comply with the moving target of ever changing government rules (from the Feds, the Government Sponsored Enterprise likely to buy your loan, and other Federal agencies involved with overseeing various regulations and programs). It is also likely that a low-level processing clerk or newly graduated college student-employee was handling your paperwork -- and they did not fully understand the requirement. While I've been frequently asked for (a photo copy of) my Social Security card and (a photo copy of) my (state issued) driver's license for certain identity requirements, in almost all cases a U.S. Passport (photocopy) also meets the identity requirement involved. Photo ID (drivers license) and SS Card separately prove (1) your identity and (2) legality to work in the U.S. A U.S. issued passport provides both proofs with only one document. This is most commonly used on form I-9 that creates a record that an individual is who they say they are and are legally allowed to work in the U.S. (I like using a Passport for this purpose as it does not include my SSN and is thus less convenient to use to steal one's identity for credit fraud).

The part that amazes me the most are the fools that experience this type of uncaring lack of service at the hands of the government workforce that STILL want the government to take over health care. It's bad enough being shoved around while trying to renew a drivers license or get a new passport -- but I'm incredulous that anyone might want to have similar service at the local emergency room while having a heart attack.

Good article. Maybe we should establish a new agency, Federal Employees Evaluation System, or FEES... ..three bad evaluations and you're out. Of course, FEES would require thousands of new federal employees and would cost us lots of money to operate. And, who would evaluate the FEES employees?

According to the Declaration of Independence, governments have two jobs:
[1]secure rights, and
[2]govern those who consent.
Since they weren't securing rights, I suspect that consent is at the root of your troubles.

Aloha,
Amen.

The money they are paid is stolen from us by force (sorry for the redundancy). We cannot refuse their "services" and the surrendering of our money for the payments, so why should they show any deference to us? We are jus cattle in the tax-farm and we are treated in accordance with our tax-slave condition.

They make you ask permission to live. An East German refuge during the 1980's described life just this way. It was all of the gov't regulations that caused everyone to stand in line most of the day just to be able to function in the society they structured to rule the people. A thousand little cuts still bleed you to death.

Thanks Tibor.

The amount and scale of "consents" you signed/acquiesced to during that exercise, would be close to a trillion.

Peace requires and depends on consent.