We’ve Been “Feeling the Bern” for a Long Time Now

The startling and unexpected emergence of Bernie Sanders as a legitimate political candidate was answered with a chorus of retorts from people mourning what would happen to their personal freedoms should such a man be elected. How could the United States, a nation that values free enterprise and protection from government involvement, elect a socialist, someone dedicated to excessive government interference?

But as James Scott points out, this notion that our lives have long been free from government intervention, that there is some sort of wall of separation between us and the state, is an utter lie – something we perhaps tell ourselves to feel more comfortable or because we just don’t know the truth. The basic qualities of modern society, including everything from city planning to the development of surnames, which we accept as normal and probably don’t think much about, were once considered to be opportunities for the power-hungry state to exert control over its citizens. Nearly every aspect of society has been specifically designed to streamline control over us and simplify government attempts to more effectively tax us, rule us, and keep us “safe.”

The never-ending task of the bureaucrat is to seek to understand and determine what’s best for an entire group or territory of people. Any modern state’s goal is to “make a society legible” in order to “[simplify] the classic state functions”, whereas the “premodern state […] knew precious little about its subjects” (Scott 2). The only problem is, while the premodern state knew precious little about its citizens, the modern state knows little more. Continuous and incessant attempts at making a society more legible, after a certain point, only serves to create more hoops for the populace to jump through. Obviously the accumulation of “direct knowledge of and access to a previously opaque society” has some clear benefits, such as “making it possible for officials to intervene early in epidemics” and the like (77). But there’s also the possibility of an ill-equipped and inefficient government running society into the ground. Many believe that the exertion of excessive state power is a relatively new phenomenon, especially in the United States. Many others believe that the state inherently knows best. Both can be dangerous views to hold, and they render the people complacent.