The only power any government has is the power to crack down on

"The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws." Thus spoke Ayn Rand, the fierce philosopher of freedom, whose words burn with the fire of warning. In this vision, she unveiled one of the gravest perils that haunt the soul of nations—the moment when law, meant to protect the innocent, becomes a snare that ensnares them. When the Government, losing its moral compass, confuses justice with control, it creates a world where the act of living itself becomes an offense. Her words rise not as mere rhetoric, but as prophecy—a timeless reminder that liberty dies not in a single stroke, but in the slow suffocation of endless laws.

Rand, born in the Russia of the czars and matured in the age of revolution, witnessed this tragedy firsthand. In her youth, she saw how the Bolsheviks, in their zeal to purify society, made obedience to the State the highest virtue and individual freedom the gravest crime. Merchants, artists, thinkers—all who sought to live by their own minds—were branded as exploiters or enemies. When law became an instrument not of justice but of control, every man became a potential criminal. From those dark beginnings, she learned that tyranny does not always arrive with chains and whips—it arrives with decrees and signatures.

The meaning of her words, then, reaches deep into the heart of human civilization. A Government derives its power from the consent of the governed, and its purpose is to protect the rights of the people—to defend life, liberty, and property. But when it forgets this sacred trust, when it seeks power for its own sake, it must justify its existence by inventing threats. And if no true evil exists to oppose, it must manufacture criminals—by outlawing ordinary acts, by twisting morality, by turning honest men into transgressors. The more laws it writes, the more guilt it creates; the more guilt it creates, the more control it gains. Thus, tyranny cloaks itself in the garments of legality.

We see this pattern repeated across the ages. In the Roman Empire, as its virtue decayed, the law became a labyrinth meant to entangle rather than enlighten. Taxes multiplied, restrictions grew, and common men were ruined for failing to obey codes they could neither read nor understand. The empire, drunk with its own authority, punished the industrious while feeding the corrupt. The result was the death of initiative and the withering of freedom. So too in more recent times, totalitarian regimes have used laws not to protect, but to persecute—to make examples of citizens who dared to think or speak differently. What Rand warned of was not merely historical—it is the eternal temptation of power to make guilt a tool of governance.

Her words are a mirror, and in it we must see ourselves. Every new rule, every new decree, every regulation cloaked in the promise of safety or virtue must be measured against this question: does it protect freedom, or does it bind it? The true danger is not the tyrant who seizes power by force, but the bureaucracy that erodes it in the name of order. When men grow accustomed to being told what they may eat, say, build, or think, they cease to be citizens—they become subjects. The tragedy of excessive law is not only political but spiritual: it teaches men to fear their own choices.

Yet Rand’s message is not despair—it is a summons to vigilance. The price of liberty is eternal watchfulness, and the duty of a free people is to guard their laws from becoming their shackles. Laws should be few, clear, and just—protecting the rights of the individual, not binding the hands of the innocent. A society that outlaws too much invites hypocrisy and breeds cynicism; one that honors freedom cultivates virtue and strength. For true morality does not come from the threat of punishment, but from the dignity of self-rule.

The lesson, therefore, is this: cherish freedom, and guard against the slow tyranny of overreach. Do not let fear or convenience justify the loss of your birthright. Question the laws that govern you—know them, challenge them, and demand that they serve justice, not control. For once the government learns to make criminals of the innocent, no one remains safe—not even those who believed themselves loyal.

So remember, O seeker of truth, the wisdom of Ayn Rand: when law becomes a net that catches all, none are truly free. Let your voice rise for clarity, your heart stand for courage, and your hands defend the right to live without guilt. For a nation remains free only so long as its people refuse to kneel—not before kings, not before mobs, and not before the tyranny of too many laws.