Arbor Day is Here!

April 28, 2005 10:23 PM by Benjamin Marks (Archive)

All government intervention leads to unintended consequences. The government’s support of a “holiday� to plant trees is no different. Little does the government know what an excellent opportunity it is for the libertarian to plot its demise. Although covert and fairly long-term, a more sinister threat to government cannot be imagined. We should plant impenetrable hedges to fortify our property and allergy provoking trees around government offices. Etc., etc. Ambrose Bierce wrote a little poem (reprinted in The Sardonic Humor of Ambrose Bierce) to get us into the spirit of it:

Hasten, children, black and white –
Celebrate the yearly rite.
Every pupil plant a tree:
It will grow some day to be
Big and strong enough to bear
A School Director hanging there.

After all, H.L. Mencken did recommend, “hanging all the professors of pedagogy� (A Mencken Chrestomathy, p. 311). Well? What are you waiting for? For more info on Arbor Day go here.