Human Purpose Threatens Government Control
There is nothing more tragic than a life devoid of purpose. Without meaning, souls wither away. Anybody who has interacted with drug addicts whose only “purpose” is to secure another “fix” knows this to be true. The human part of those so afflicted steadily disappears as the body is overtaken by a desperate need to remain in a sedated state of oblivion.
Almost every city in America has a “no-go” zone of hardcore homeless addicts who shuffle along the streets like zombies from a horror movie. The sight is surreal and a shocking reminder that even the most powerful country in the world regularly fails to beat back the advances of Hell.
As a society, we used to at least pretend to care about the drug epidemic in America. We declared “war on drugs,” but the drugs won. The Reagan administration produced some effective public health campaigns, but the drug cartels south of the border became only more powerful over time.
As Democrats and some libertarians pushed for the legalization of serious narcotics this century, state governments and federal agencies not only stopped enforcing drug laws, but also accepted that sizable populations across America would be permitted to suicide while the rest of us disinterestedly watched. From urban streets to abandoned houses in forgotten rural towns, drug-addled zombies pursue one “purpose”: to die.
Some might say “to each his own” or “it’s none of my business.” Adulthood, after all, is about taking responsibility for your own actions. And it is almost impossible to talk someone out of destroying himself. With every breath we take, glass of water we drink, and bowl of food we eat, staying alive is a choice. Those who reach for the needle, it is often said, are making a “choice,” too.
Still, if Americans understood how many of the zombie homeless are veterans, formerly stable people whose lives spiraled out of control, or neglected citizens who have lived on and off the streets since childhood, maybe more people would offer a helping hand. Sometimes we invite Hell into our lives, and sometimes Hell swallows us whole. Blessed are those with the strength to drag lost souls back home.
Why do Democrat mayors in cities such as San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Baltimore carve out entire neighborhoods for homeless zombies to prowl? It’s not some “libertarian” embrace of the supposed “freedom” to do drugs. It’s certainly not some “compassionate” policy meant to “accept” people as they are. Within one hour of walking the streets of zombieland, no rational person could conclude that these dens of squalor, violence, indignity, and wretchedness are anything other than the outstretched tentacles of Hell.
I think Democrats protect these hellish spaces because they serve an evil purpose: As zombielands grow, they swallow up more and more of society. The bigger they become, the more attractive they are for damaged souls and malcontents chasing death. Like abortion on demand up to (and sometimes after) a baby’s birth, municipally sanctioned drug lairs exist to churn out dead bodies. They operate as both depopulation machines and as blaring foghorns spewing out hopelessness in all directions.
Something that conservatives generally understand and that leftists do not is that “government” and “society” are two different things. Government is a blunt instrument that claims to act on behalf of society but really acts according to its own institutional interests. Society is a much broader concept that includes all of the cultural, religious, intellectual, and personal relationships that bind a people together. Should the federal government ever fall, American society might persevere and rebuild. Should our society collapse, no government can glue the pieces back together. Government is coercion; society is choice. Strong societies create strong countries; strong governments often destroy countries.
When Democrat politicians defend the propagation of zombielands across America, they advance the government’s interests, not society’s. How could deadly drug zones possibly advance government interests? That question brings us back to an essential ingredient of every human soul: purpose.
As far as governments are concerned, people lacking purpose are either useful or dangerous. How are they useful? Militaries, law enforcement agencies, and vast bureaucracies are built with people seeking purpose. It is comforting to believe that government institutions are innately patriotic. In reality, governments use patriotism to achieve institutional objectives. They say, “Do this for your country.” What they mean is, “Do this for your government.” Governments feed on people who need purpose. They provide purpose in exchange for obedience.
This kind of arrangement exists whether the government in question rules Baltimore’s streets or a superpower nation. Gang life flourishes because boys who are desperate to find purpose in life are offered a gun and a street corner to defend. Since the putative conclusion of WWII, war has continually raged somewhere on the African continent. While the rest of the world does what it can to ignore the carnage, one generation of child soldiers after the next finds purpose with a rifle. All that “purpose” ensures short, violent lives.
When people without purpose cannot be corralled into government service, they are potentially dangerous. Such people might just find that their purpose is to oppose the government. Government bureaucracies’ most important function is to coerce people into submission. When possible, this coercion is done quietly, if not invisibly. Police forces keep order. Credit scores encourage timely payment. Banks require the use of government money. Public pensions ensure that government workers and retirees obey. Public shaming and the rise of “cancel culture” are effective government tools for controlling citizens.
When government coercion fails to control citizens, society begins to realize that its interests are not identical to the government’s. Consider the mass resistance movements now forming throughout the United Kingdom. After decades of flooding the country with illegal aliens who have gone on to commit heinous crimes and undermine social unity in the U.K., government authorities are now contending with the reality that the British people have found a purpose that threatens government supremacy. The government’s failure to protect society has given society a pressing reason to seize control of the country from the government. No matter how many new censorship laws parliament passes to silence citizens, the British government will not be able to suppress the public’s newfound purpose to defend itself.
Now consider this: The people who are right now building an artificial intelligence structure to manage the world believe that A.I. will replace all human workers. Elon Musk told a technology conference just last year that there will soon “come a point where no job is needed.” He predicts that everyone will be living on government-provided income.
Musk paints this future as a rosy one but recognizes that “the question will be one of meaning. Does your life have meaning?” Whether he is being honest about his optimism or not, he at least understands that the question of human purpose will come to the forefront in the next few years.
Governments around the world are obviously much less optimistic. Growing censorship in the West, mass digital surveillance, plans for “vaccine passports,” and the rollout of central bank digital currencies all suggest that governments ostensibly supportive of “human liberty” are actually constructing totalitarian systems of control. They are investing heavily in an infrastructure meant to ensure that society’s purpose strictly mirrors the government’s objectives.
Freethinkers who refuse to comply should take a hard look at the zombielands across the United States. Governments don’t care if purposeless people kill themselves. They will do everything they can, however, to make sure that people don’t find purpose in opposing government policy.
For those agnostics who have yet to see that the coming battle is ultimately a spiritual one, think again. We are in a war between good and evil. Be careful where you stand.
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2025/08/human_purpose_threatens_government_control.html