The thing about people with power is they'll do anything to keep it.

We like to tell ourselves happy stories about the ideals of democracy and the virtues of the law.

However, the only laws that matter are the ones that are enforced; a law that can't be enforced is no law at all.

So we can deduce that the only laws that are enforced are the ones that benefit those in power. Because the law is enforced by those in power, and they won't act against their own interests.

Therefore, we discover that the only laws that matter are the laws that benefit those in power.

This means that the happy stories we tell ourselves are idealistic fiction. You know, the stories about government of, by, and for the people. Institutions that selflessly work for the good of all mankind.

Today, we present stories about a couple of these fairy tale systems.

In both cases, one group of people is profiting immensely from naive belief in the nobility of their institution. It's no coincidence that the people who are profiting are those with established power.

Thousands of Iowans showed up to vote in the Democrat Party caucus assuming (wrongly) that they were participating in a democratic process. Once again, they've discovered that the DNC won't hesitate to orchestrate the electoral process to screw Bernie Sanders.

Pete "Mayor Cheat" Buttigieg is the fortunate beneficiary of Bernie's bad luck.

Meanwhile, Florida sheriffs have been weaponizing occupational licensing to entrap would-be handymen. If it wasn't for the brave men and women of the badge, who would protect us from the grave existential threat of unlicensed handymen?! Heaven help us!

Above all, the institutions of modern society exist to serve the interests of whomever is in power. They'll tell us lots of stories about how they work for us. But they don't. They work for themselves.

Fairness and justice always take a backseat to the pursuit of self-interest. Life isn't fair. No one is  coming to save you.

In conclusion, here's the good news. You can't win the game until you know the rules. Now you know the rules. So go win.

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Intro music by Nick White, producer of The Statist Quo

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