It’s typical of the mainstream media to make huge fanfare wheneverso much as an itch disturbs the veneer of its one sacred and sanctified cow, the State. Thus it was that a February 10th Associated Press article was titled, “Snow Shuts Down Government,” in response to the D.C.-area storms that have been labelled “Snowpocalypse” and “Snowmageddon” by some. Jessica Gresko somewhat euphemistically begins the article by asking: “If snow keeps 230,000 government employees home for the better part of a week, will anyone notice?”

The piece then goes on to make the following commentary:

“So far, the effects have been negligible. Many essential government services are performed at offices around the country, and about 85 percent of federal employees work outside the Washington region anyway. Others were working from home despite the snow. An IRS spokeswoman said tax returns should not be affected.

“’Anything that is critical is going to get done,’ said Linda Springer, a former director of the Office of Personnel Management, which oversees the federal work force of nearly 2 million workers.”

Question: If these “essential government services” are so “critical,” how is it that roughly 15% of the federal government workforce can stay home, and still justify their jobs after the snowplows are all parked and idle? To attempt to eliminate even a fraction of 1% of the federal government via the legislative process in the halls of D.C. is roughly akin to trying to get a pigeon to fly to Venus. Yet, in this situation, 15% of these useless parasites are out of the picture, and business goes on as usual – pay us, obey us, or die.

Observe this: “David Fiore, who works for the federal government’s Export-Import Bank of the U.S., stocked up on groceries Tuesday in Washington and said he planned to do some work from home, including a 2 p.m. conference call.

“’They’re open in Turkey. I’m getting e-mails from Morocco,’ he said. ‘The work goes on.’”

Work. At a time when private sector unemployment is over 10%, we need David Fiore and others like him conducting government trade at our collective expense? At least he’s apparently not going to go hungry during the storms … though that’s on account of your nickel and mine as well.

My point is that no matter what, the world isn’t going to grind to a halt nor civilization collapse, even if we discharge massive amounts of government bureaucrats – up to and including all of them – to sink or swim in an unfettered free market. Those goods and services that actually are essential – those that willing customers will voluntarily purchase and contract for without coercive violence – will obviously remain due to consumer demand. Government bureaucrats consider altogether too much fat and chaff as “essential.” It may well be, but only in order for such parasites to maintain domination and control over us all, while using our money to do it, while producing absolutely nothing of use in return. That is a situation not only unsustainable and illogical, but morally intolerable.

So never mind the “Snowpocalypse”: After all is said and done, government itself – as both a concept and an institution – is the ultimate snow-job.