Politics is a Waste of Time

I used to spend too much time thinking about politics.  I wondered, for example, how incompetent all of our politicians must be since we never have a balanced budget.

But now that I've stopped watching TV, and therefore the news, and stopped exchanging comments with the commenters at the Huffington Post, it seems that I'm more relaxed about the whole subject.

Someone else: "Something happened politically."

Me: "Don't care, but it will be worse than you think it is."


Someone else: "Politician X is an incompetent jerk."

Me: "He's worse than you think, and don't forget about his corruption too."

And that's the extent of my new conversations, and thoughts on politics.


That's not to say government is any less incompetent, corrupt or awful.  I just attempt to spend more time ignoring it.


On the other hand, I just got a speeding ticket.  Who was my alleged victim?  If there is no victim, then why is it a crime?  If its just potential victims, then why not fine me for committing every crime ever?  Potentially, I could commit any or all of them.

And I also grow plants for deer (food plots, fruit and nut trees, etc.).  For this I need fertilizer.  Some places do not sell fertilizer with nitrogen, thanks to laws forbidding it.  How are plants supposed to grow without nitrogen?

And I wonder about how much more difficult it is to create something than it should be.  What are the relevant laws?  Where would I find the relevant laws?  How am I supposed to be productive if i don't even know where I can look to find all the relevant laws?  Maybe they're making everything illegal so that the government can direct our live however they see fit?

Where have I heard a similar idea before?

I still spend too much time thinking about politics, but I only do so now when its forced upon me.

How much better off would we be if the only laws were: don't harm others, fulfill your contractual obligations?

A commenter at Reason.com said he saw a study that concluded that were it not for government interference, the median yearly American income would be north of 300k.  I can't imagine how such a think could be calculated, but I don't doubt we've lost a tremendous amount of prosperity thanks to the government.