Our Gilligan Government and Our Castaway Voters

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Mrs. Groovy and I typically end our incredibly hectic and productive day by watching something frivolous on Tubi. On most nights, it’s Eight Is Enough. But sometimes we stray from the kooky mayhem of the Bradfords and watch either One Day at a Time or Gilligan’s Island. And every time we watch Gilligan’s Island, I marvel at the stupidity of the castaways. One castaway, Gilligan, is a complete screw-up. In every episode he singlehandedly stops the castaways from being rescued. Yet, despite this unblemished record of ineptitude, the other castaways continue to give him a pivotal role in whatever escape plan they conceive.

Now a question: Does this dynamic—a group of seemingly intelligent people continually putting their fate in the hands of a single boob—remind you of anything currently happening in the United States?

Call me nuts, but I can’t help but look at our government and see Gilligan, and I can’t help but look at our voters and see the rest of the castaways. Our government, regardless of level, is a bastion of ineptitude, and our voters are a bastion of delusion—they keep asking for a total screw-up to rescue them.

Five Examples of Gilliganness

I worked in local government for 21 years. So I saw first-hand the rank ineptitude of government. And my municipality didn’t suck at governing because it was manned by buffoons and thieves. The vast majority of my associates were good, capable people. Nope, my municipality sucked at governing because it could get away with sucky governing. It was a monopoly service provider with a conscripted clientele. It got taxpayer money regardless of how poorly it did its job. This lack of accountability, in turn, gave the politicians and bureaucrats of my municipality the license to put their needs above the needs of the taxpayers. And what were the needs of my associates? If you said more compensation for less work and weaker standards—that is, great paying sinecures with no penalties for crappy workmanship—go straight to the head of the class.

The dirty little secret of my municipality is that it’s hardly an outlier. Every government under the sun is burdened by the same inherent flaw. No competition equals weak accountability equals politicians and bureaucrats screwing over the taxpayers.

And if you think I’m being overwrought, think again. Here are five examples of Gilliganness that have afflicted our federal and state governments for decades:

Public finances: When I was born in 1961, the national debt was $2.93 trillion (inflation-adjusted). Today, the national debt is $31.84 trillion. For as long as I remember, politicians on both sides of the aisle have been complaining about the national debt. And, yet, none of these towering geniuses has figured out how to get a handle on the federal budget—to consistently spend only what is collected in taxes.

Education: As far back as 1966, our vaunted educators have been waging a battle against the black-white achievement gap in education. And, yet, despite the lavish increase in per-pupil spending over the past 50-plus years—and all the effort to make education less “eurocentric”— the black-white achievement gap not only persists but is now also utterly dwarfed by the black-Asian achievement gap.

2022 Average SAT Scores by Race/Ethnicity

Poverty: I came across a video the other day that I thought was another video documenting the horror of Kensington Avenue in Philadelphia. It wasn’t. It was a video documenting the horror of South Africa’s current electricity crisis. But I can hardly be faulted for associating the video’s backdrop with Kensington Avenue. American homelessness is that bad.

For nearly 40 years now, our politicians have been trying to solve the homeless problem. And for nearly 40 years now, our politicians have been utterly stumped. Homelessness is apparently an enigma wrapped inside a riddle—no one can figure out how to stop homeless people from commandeering public streets and parks and ruining working-class neighborhoods.

Illegal immigration: In 1986, Congress promised to fix the immigration mess. In exchange for granting amnesty to the illegals then in the country, Congress and President Reagan promised that the federal government would finally dedicate itself to enforcing the country’s immigration laws. But instead of doing what they said they were going to do, we got this:

Manufacturing: For 50 years we have been wringing our hands over the decline of American manufacturing. And for 50 years, our vaunted politicians—who have the answer to everything come election season—have been utterly impotent when it comes to stopping factory jobs from moving overseas. China has no problem expanding and protecting its manufacturing base. Nor does Mexico. But for some reason, we have no idea how to lower the cost of domestic manufacturing and increase the cost of imported goods. It’s a giant friggin’ Scooby-Do mystery. So our once great manufacturing cities wither into rusting husks of decrepitude (hello, Detroit, Akron, Gary, Cleveland, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, etc.), and our academically-disinclined men, instead of manning machines and making things, busy themselves with the emasculating distractions of video games, drugs, and Only Fans. How pathetic.

And Numerous Examples of Castaway Syndrome

Ask Americans what they think of government and you won’t get a lot of thumbs up. Americans know the government sucks the big one. But despite having an intimate knowledge of the government’s penchant for ineptitude, far too many Americans still look to the government to solve their problems. Here are just some of the additional responsibilities castaway Americans want to foist on the government (sorry in advance for the snarky comments):

• Universal childcare (Why do all these strong and powerful women need the government to look after their kids?)
• Medicare-for-all (Hey, education-for-all made everyone educated. I’m sure Medicare-for-all will make everyone healthy.)
• Affordable housing (Yes, public housing is the answer. Federal and state governments have no doubt learned their lessons from the failures of Cabrini-Green and other disastrous housing projects.)
• UBI (What could go wrong with the government paying people to do nothing?)
• Restorative justice (Protecting the peace without arresting and incarcerating criminals is surely something the government will be able to pull off.)
• The elimination of food deserts and food insecurity (Food deserts are largely the result of civility deserts, and food insecurity is largely the result of people procreating irresponsibly. I’m sure the government will figure this out and do an exemplary job of mitigating those root causes.)
• The elimination of hate speech (Not sure how this squares with the First Amendment, but the government will figure it out.)
• The elimination of white supremacy (I don’t know any whites of note who are clamoring for pro-white/anti-POC Jim Crow, but our woke media assure us they’re all over the place. And I’m sure the government will find them and get their heads straight.)
• Reparations (Yes, the government rewarding people who were never slaves and punishing people who were never slave owners is bound to usher in the greatest era of brotherly love the world has ever seen.)

Final Thoughts

There are a group of men in the manosphere who have given up on the dating world completely. They go by the acronym MGTOW (pronounced mig-tow), which stands for men-going-their-own-way.

I’m not an advocate of MGTOW. There are still plenty of reasonable women out there, and any man who makes a concerted effort to improve himself—and succeeds—will get a favorable response from many of those women. I am, however, a supreme advocate of VGTOW—voters-going-their-own-way. It doesn’t matter who you vote for. You can vote for all the “fiscal” and “commonsense” conservatives you want. Our government will never be anything but Gilligan, and our voters will never be anything but the rest of the castaways. The rot is that deep. Our politicians have been groomed to think they can solve any problem while still providing all the welfare and privilege that the donor class demands, and while still genuflecting before the holy trinity of “diversity,” “equity,” and “inclusion.” Our voters have been groomed to sneer at rugged individualism and worship socialism. If you put your faith in the government, you will lose. The only way to win is to go your own way—to take extreme responsibility for your life. It won’t always be fun or necessarily fruitful. But the odds of you saving yourself from whatever ails you are a lot better than the government saving you.

Okay, groovy freedomist, that’s all I got. What say you? Am I being overly pessimistic? Is our government really Gilligan? Or am I being a clear-eyed realist? Let me know what you think when you get a chance. Peace.