‘In the movie Flamingo Road, Joan Crawford
says to her husband "Why don’t you be honest with the people? Why don’t
you teach them to run their own state?" David Brian replies "Honey,
the honest men get eaten up. There’re too many other men waiting, watching,
probing for the soft spots, the graft. No, it’s better to be one of them." 

Waiting and watching is a useful
strategy. Wait and watch for a flock of ducks to fly over. Wait until the birds
are in your line of fire. Wait and watch until stocks reach an appropriate
price before buying. A burglar waits and watches until your car or home are
unoccupied. The state waits and watches for its chance too. 

A burglar hits us once, maybe twice,
until we put in alarms, get a dog, leave the radio going, or hire guards. Once
the state hits us, it never stops hitting us. The lesson is that we need to
guard a great deal more against the state than a random burglary. Our losses
add up to much more once the state gets its claws in us.’ 

Continual Theft