A short post published here yesterday received a surprising amount of attention, so I feel I should delve more deeply into the topic of Oklahoma Senator Ervin Yen’s paternalistic authoritarianism, and why it has no place in Oklahoma.
In truth, Yen himself makes a pretty good case for being removed from elected office. His recently-created Twitter account is nothing more than a string of attacks on various freedoms that he deems offensive. What’s worse, he appears to believe what he’s saying. There are few things more terrifying than the authoritarian who truly believes he knows what’s best for us, and is more than willing to use the coercive power of the State to override our ability to choose what’s best for ourselves.
Perhaps the most outrageous action Yen has taken as chairman of the Health and Human Services Committee is when, in April of last year,he refused to even allow a hearing on a bill that would address the severe healthcare provider shortage here in Oklahoma. With 75 out of the 77 counties in this state experiencing a health professional shortage, his action is a scandal of gargantuan proportions.
He also is a firm believer in mandatory vaccination, and has roused the fury of parents across the state, who have organized under banner of the Oklahomans for Vaccine and Health Choice, and rallied to “yank” him out of office, replacing him with Joe Howell on June 26th, the day of the primaries.
Like some strange, autocratic Don Quixote galloping along in a Lynchian nightmare, Yen tilts at the windmills of personal choice, deems them to be evil, and then throws himself headlong at his target, sword swinging wildly. Oklahoma can tolerate this state of affairs not a second longer.
To attack the freedom to make our own choices is to attack the very foundation of the ideals that this country was founded on, to attack the foundation of liberty itself. Strange how rarely we hear a politician or candidate speak of liberty anymore. How rarely do we hear a politician bent on expanding choice, rather than diminishing it.
Yen places far too much faith in the redemptive power of legislation, which is nothing new to Oklahoma. Our present, dismal state of affairs here is a result of too much faith in government power, too little in the power of liberty. But only liberty can correct this mess.
The case against Yen is the case against authoritarianism, against the misuse of power. He has been no steward of the liberty of the people, and must be removed. Removing him, though, should be seen as a small battle in a larger effort to transform the way we view the role of government in our lives. If government is to exist at all, it should be to protect liberty. It is not our caretaker from cradle to grave, nor that of our children. It only has the power that we give it, and it’s time to remove our consent.
Yen’s brand of hyperbolic authoritarianism has run this state into the ground, and he is proof positive that we don’t need to focus our attention on Washington D.C. if we wish to restore liberty. The tyrants are in our backyard, in our communities, and must be fought (in an ideological, non-violent sense) there. As Ludwig von Mises said:
“Everyone carries a part of society on his shoulders; no one is relieved of his share of responsibility by others. And no one can find a safe way for himself if society is sweeping towards destruction. Therefore everyone, in his own interests, must thrust himself vigorously into the intellectual battle. No one can stand aside with unconcern: the interests of everyone hang on the result.”
H/T Liberty Memes.