Analogies for Federal Government - Any other ideas???

[JPFromTally]

This is the way I like to describe the federal government (and the idea of reducing it) to people:

Imagine there's a highway. Every day for years you drive to work using this highway. One day, the federal government comes in and sets up a toll on the highway plus they force you to reroute your trip 20 extra miles. They give the new highway a fancy name like "FDR Express Reroute."

At first you protest but after a while you get used to this new 'system' because, after all, the government knows best. Then one day a guy named Ron Paul comes in and says, "We really don't need this toll and these 20 extra miles of road."

At which point a lot of people will protest, "How will we ever get to work?!?!?"


I've always believed giving analogies is one of the best ways to persuade people. Anybody else have other good ones?

[OKRonPaul]

I've been toying around with a "the president's not santa " idea. It seems like people try to pick the candidate who promises to "give them" the most new stuff. As we all know, we get a lot less than we give the government, breaking that concept could really help us out.

[LBT]

Government is the mafia that won.

[Dary]

From Harry Browne -

Government breaks your legs, hands you a pair of crutches, then says “See, if it wasn’t for us, you wouldn’t be able to walk.”

[OKRonPaul]

I guess I'm not the only one who thought of the santa analogy...

http://www.westbranchtimes.com/article.php?id=2452

[lucius]

"What the government is good at is collecting taxes, taking away your freedoms and killing people. It's not good at much else." -- Tom Clancy on Kudlow and Cramer 9/2/03

[akovacs]

Right now, I look at the federal government as a ricer car. Every year, congress tacks on more and more "upgrades", almost all of which are either useless, or even detrimental to performance.

Yeah, it's a lame analogy, but I find it surprisingly effective at getting the point across.

[JPFromTally]

From Harry Browne -

Government breaks your legs, hands you a pair of crutches, then says “See, if it wasn’t for us, you wouldn’t be able to walk.”

I loved this one from Harry...

[NoxTwilight]

A little boy goes to his dad and asks, "What is politics?"

Dad says, "Well son, let me try to explain it this way:
I'm the breadwinner of the family, so let's call me Capitalism. Your Mom, she's the administrator of the money, so we'll call her the Government. We're here to take care of your needs, so we'll call you the People. The nanny, we'll consider her the Working Class. And your baby brother, we'll call him the Future. Now, think about that and see if that makes sense."

So the little boy goes off to bed thinking about what Dad has said. Later that night, he hears his baby brother crying, so he gets up to check on him. He finds that the baby has severely soiled his diaper. So the little boy goes to his parents' room and finds his mother sound asleep. Not wanting to wake her, he goes to the nanny's room.
Finding the door locked, he peeks in the keyhole and sees his father in bed with the nanny. He gives up and goes back to bed.

The next morning, the little boy says to his father, "Dad, I think I understand the concept of politics now."

The father says, "Good son, tell me in your own words what you think politics is all about."

The little boy replies, "Well, while Capitalism is screwing the Working Class, the Government is sound asleep, the People are being ignored and the Future is in deep shit."

[davidkachel]

Government is a dirty old man offering candy to a little girl.