Conservatives are outraged over reports that the IRS purposely targeted certain conservative groups for more extensive audits.  I don’t think most libertarians are surprised by the news.

Conservatives will moan and wail over the news, but how many will actually advocate abolishing the IRS?  In order to abolish the IRS, you would have to abolish the income tax.  In order to abolish the income tax, you would have to significantly shrink government (digital money printing only lasts so long).  In order to shrink government, you would have to downsize the American empire, particularly the interventionist foreign policy.  So conservatives don’t want to abolish the IRS.

This sort of thing happens all the time.  This one became news.  Who knows if it would have even made the news if we didn’t live in the age of the internet?

This is politics.  When people are given a monopoly on the use of force, that power is going to be used in bad ways.

Harry Browne often liked to quote a phrase by Michael Cloud: The problem is not the abuse of power, but the power to abuse.

It should never be a surprise when power is abused.  When there is power to be obtained, it is often the worst people in society who will seek it.  They want that power to control and manipulate others.  We should not be shocked of revelations that some people used their power in inappropriate ways.

The only way to solve this problem is to take away power from the government.  Another saying is that a government powerful enough to give you everything you want is also powerful enough to take away everything you have.

When will conservatives wake up?  I could say the same thing about modern day liberals, but their whole basis is wrong to start with.  It is more frustrating discussing these things with conservatives in a way.  Many have a decent understanding of the dangers of big government, yet they continue to consent to it.  I find that modern day liberals are actually more consistent in their views, even if wrong.

This whole IRS scandal will not change anything.  People will call for more “reform” or more “oversight”.  We always hear these catch words that are completely bogus.  Nothing significant will change until we withdraw our consent and take away the power of the government.  In order to take away the government’s power to do bad things, you must first take away its power to do good things.