Everything government touches turns to crap. — Ringo Starr
Ringo said it best, but it needs reiterating.
There is nothing government bureaucrats can do that entrepreneurs can’t do better.
This shouldn’t even be an issue anymore. It’s 2016 — the Soviet Union has ceased to exist, China has opened up its markets, even Castro’s Cuba has embraced capitalism to some extent, and just look at Venezuela — political tyranny and toilet paper shortages is all that socialism can guarantee.
So in case you’re wondering, yes, the lesson behind the Toronto raids is the same lesson behind the Dana Larsen arrest.
Why do we still embrace socialism? Especially with something as important as the safety and security of our communities?
Why are police exempt from profit-and-loss? From competition?
Insurance companies haven’t been nationalized by the government. Insurance companies don’t go around demanding payment from people that haven’t signed a contract with them.
Canadians believe in freedom of speech and freedom of religion. But why do we stop at freedom of contract? Isn’t that a little inconsistent?
Isn’t freedom of association in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms?
Doesn’t it seem odd to you that the bogus “Divine Right of Kings” has been replaced with the equally sketchy “Social Contract” theory?
How about using real contracts? Ones that, if violated, can be assessed by a third-party arbitrator both parties agree upon.
We structure a good chunk of our society that way, it’s what separates the free world from dictatorships.
If we structured our police departments in the same way, we may see a little more accountability.
After all, if Toronto Police can operate alongside the OPP without breaking into turf wars, if the RCMP and provincial police forces can operate alongside each other without causing civil war, surely, free-market security agencies can protect neighbourhoods in Toronto without fighting amongst themselves.
War is bad for business, but it is the health of the state. And nowhere is that more apparent in Canada than the drug war.
Instead of fighting real crimes with real victims, the Toronto police wasted a lot of money and a lot of scarce resources arresting 90 people, laying 186 charges, and stealing up to 270 kilograms of flower, 127 kilograms of oils, and 142 kilograms of edibles, adding up to $160,000 in cash.
But it was all about public health and safety, right? A claim that could only be substantiated if there had been actual contract signed by the residents of Toronto and the policing services.
If a grocery store hires a Brink’s van to transport some money and some of it goes missing, I’m willing to bet the Brink’s people don’t investigate themselves.
I bet they don’t hold a press conference trying to justify their theft.
If the University of Toronto hires private security and these security guards steal student’s bikes and sell them on Craigslist, I’m willing to bet the security guards don’t get off scot-free.
If a home-security alarm system fails to go off when a break-and-enter occurs, the company that provides the service risks their reputation and, if enough of these robberies take place on their watch, the company faces bankruptcy for selling an inferior product.
Resources are scarce and profit indicates who should be in charge of these resources and what they should be allocated towards.
States have yet to come even close to replicating the spontaneous order of consumers in a free-and-fair market. Every attempt has failed miserably, sometimes with the death toll in the millions.
Canada has been lucky when compared to places like China or Russia, but we’d be foolish to think we’re exempt from this lesson.
The lesson behind the Toronto raids is that without the ability to withdraw payment and patronize a competitor, the state’s police forces are nothing but a mercenary group for whoever controls the political apparatus.