By Bear Howard
Both Sedona residents and national leaders decry government interference while relying on the very systems they criticize. At the federal level, the new administration pushes deregulation under the guise of “freedom,” ignoring that a sophisticated society cannot function without structure. In Sedona, residents complain about zoning laws but would be the first to protest if their views were obstructed by unchecked development. The hypocrisy is national in scale: Americans want roads, law enforcement, and environmental protections but often reject the mechanisms that sustain them.
This entitlement-driven rejection of governance extends from city council meetings in Sedona to the highest levels of Washington. Residents rail against taxes but expect services even though most of the tax revenue is actually paid by tourists paying sales and bed taxes. They demand local control but refuse to engage in the civic processes that allow it. Nationally, this is echoed by an administration that cuts funding to public infrastructure while promising a better future—one that somehow materializes without government involvement. Both Sedona and the country at large indulge in the fantasy that benefits can exist without responsibility.
Much like Sedona prides itself on being a unique oasis, America clings to an outdated idea of exceptionalism while resisting the work required to maintain it. The national administration, like Sedona’s government critics, operates under the illusion that dismantling government will somehow lead to prosperity. In reality, it invites chaos. The same residents who protest city leadership’s attempts to manage tourism are no different from national voices demanding the elimination of federal agencies while expecting stability to magically persist.
Mistrust as a Status Symbol
In Sedona, rejecting local governance has become a form of self-importance—residents believe they don’t need government because they are different, special, and separate from the problems of the world. Nationally, this sentiment has been magnified into a political movement. The administration validates the idea that Americans shouldn’t have to “put up” with the government at all, framing necessary civic structure as oppression rather than function. The result? A country—and a town—disillusioned with reality, where rejecting governance is more about ego than principle.
While the administration champions smaller government when it suits its supporters, it has no problem using federal power as a weapon against those who refuse to fall in line. Nowhere is this clearer than in its aggressive use of tariffs—economic punishments imposed not for strategic reasons, but as tools of coercion. Businesses, consumers, and even entire industries suffer under these arbitrary trade wars, as the government imposes economic hardship on those it wants to force into submission. This is governance not as public service, but as a dictator’s tool—a method of bending opponents to its will.
This same dynamic plays out in Sedona. Residents resent local government for imposing regulations but fail to see that, without oversight, power merely shifts to those with the most money and influence. The federal government’s tariff policies mirror this imbalance, demonstrating that the absence of fair, functional governance does not lead to freedom—it leads to selective control by those who hold the reins.
Without Government, Chaos Wins
The irony is that those who despise government the most are the ones who would suffer the most without it. Sedona residents claim to hate regulations, but without zoning laws, developers would erase the town’s natural beauty. Without environmental protections, Oak Creek would be polluted beyond recognition. On a national level, the administration’s push to dismantle federal oversight threatens to erode everything from infrastructure to social stability. Americans—like Sedona residents—fail to see that their privileged stance against the government is not strength but self-destruction.
Conclusion:
Sedona’s rejection of governance is a microcosm of a larger national delusion: the belief that privilege exempts people from the realities of a functional society. The 2024 election has ushered in an administration eager to validate this mindset, dismantling government not because it is broken, but because a spoiled electorate believes it should not have to engage with it.
At the same time, when the government does act, it does so with targeted aggression, punishing those who resist its demands while pretending to champion freedom. Until both Sedona and the nation recognize that structure, responsibility, and governance are not the enemy, they will continue on a path of self-inflicted decline.
11 Comments
Another well written article thank you!
Look no farther than Covid 19 to prove your point. People didnt care about their fellow Americans, they didnt wear a mask, stand 6 feet away. Some reason just dumb people thinking they knew better than Drs?
So when they are on their death beds will they plead to a nurse to give them pain meds? Should the nurse just say suck it up buttercup? How about heart surgery? Should we find a local lawyer like RFK to do the procedure?
How about all those years squealing about big bad government? Let the privet sector do it? You mean that privet sector that never tells you they screw up, and have no accountability with a FOIA?
Ive seen CEO, CFO, district manager to afraid to make a simple decision, so they give to someone under them. They dont want to take the blame if its wrong!
How about all the evils of Socialism?….That one has been going for more than 60 years….But those old geezers collect the SS, the Medicare, use police and fire, drive on roads? Can you be that stupid? Hell yes you are, your so stupid you say ” here hold my beer and watch this!” Yep you are the epitome of hypocrisy!
Your embolden bigotry is brought to you on TV and Radio and sponsored by Corporate America. You hate half the country. You have no clue what empathy is or care! We know, you got yours now F off mentality.
The good and bad of this is now we all get to pay….You will be stunned, shocked, scratching your head…..And it will be us telling you, “what did you expect, dumbass?”
You will see those prices just going up, market go down. Unemployment will start to rise, we saw this just a little bit in the 80s. Good old Reagan with his plan to outsource good paying middle class jobs so the CEOs can rake in the dough! Our Oligarchs say thank you to stupid Americans who dont pay attention to history!
So its just a matter of time………..what will be your excesses right wing America?….Blame black, Hispanics, Asians, the gays? I mean, you hate most of us, you never accept responsibility, do you?
Best of luck, we warned you!
So, you like criminals and fentanyl flowing into our country rather than tariffs?
Ms Mary,
if Americans did not lust after drugs and alcohol this wouldn’t be an issue would it? Why don’t you blame Americans for the crisis of their own making that the cartels are all to happy to profit from. If the Cartels didn’t do so the American Mafia can, has and will. The problem will not go away until the end user problem has been resolved.
Projection BS. Hilariously out of it.
Yes the entire MAGA party projects absolute BS, Nonsense, Lies and Russian/Chinese Propaganda! And there is nothing funny about it unless you are a fascist who finds the pain and misery of others hilarious!
What exactly is projected BS according to you and please provide reputable legacy media links to support your claim. It’s easy to say something is nonsense by just claiming it as nonsense. Proving something to be nonsense seems something MAGA minions and Leadership are incapable of doing because if the truth came out their fascist hate movement would have died like long ago. It’s why they burn and ban books! They cannot except nor handle truth and fact so they destroy it like they did the burning of books at the Reichstag! COWARDS!!!
You should open your eyes to the truth rather than believing everything you are told by an Orange criminal Mr so called Observer.
Wait that Fentanyl that the illegals are bringing in? Or the same stuff that Americans are bringing in? You mean that Fentanyl that you can order online from China and the post office delivers it?
I have a great idea, lets impose tariff on those countries so you and I can pay more on everything we buy! What a awesome idea!
If you havent figured out by now, people are unhappy, and abuse drugs as a temporary escape!
Now Mary your probably late for the church of MAGA arnt you?
Texas governor orders National Guard to enforce immigration law at border
The accord will expand the Trump administration’s footprint by deputizing National Guard members as immigration agents.
https://apple.news/AtpAyvKhfQHSyI79lz3uvGQ
Perfectly legal to deputize State National Guard units to assist with detentions and apprehension within the state said Guard Units are from. State Guard, Reserve from outside a given state cannot be deputized by another state to perform law enforcement duties. Active Duty units can never be deputized to do any law enforcement duties within the Continental United States as expressly forbidden under The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878. Active Duty military can be used to do repairs and maintenance to facilities and barriers along our borders but are prohibited from doing any form of detention or apprehensions.
Posse Comitatus Act
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posse_Comitatus_Act
So if you believe Active Duty Troops being sent to the Texas/Mexico border are doing anything to stop illegal border crossings you are very sadly mistaken. Just as if you think Trump magically turned CA’s water “back on” as he falsely claims. Nothing he has done or will do is going to legally stop Americans from getting illegal drugs or people entering the country illegally. It’s all bluster and bullshit meant to create panic, confusion and chaos in order to divert from the crimes being committed by his administration.
I’ve protested fascism and hate in the late 50’s thru the present. It’s always been just under Americas surface awaiting the right moment to rear its ugly head again like it did with Indigenous people, the war in Vietnam, War on Iraq II, Syria, Ukraine and again right here in the good ol U S of A holes. I commend all those who speak out against this Tyrannical regime. And to those who don’t, shame on you all.
Ms. Jones
apparently laws are made to be broken except by non MAGA criminals. They get pardons, jobs, tax cuts and pay raises for being good little criminal sycophants.
Is it Mexico‘s job to stop drugs coming into America or is that American border petrol s job. All the guns in Mexico came from America. They have a right to say that why doesn’t America stopped the guns going to Mexico? It seems to be always a one-sided argument. Mexico has done nothing wrong. They are manufacturing an assembly plan for America jobs that cannot be done in America. Most of the product , from America is assembled repackaged and sent back to America, but that’s too complicated for Trump to understand all the study show that the immigrant community is far safer and more abiding than the white Community. If you want to look at statistics look at Oklahoma, Alabama and Mississippi white trash is the real problem, not immigrants.
“ Jan 23, 2025 — Bear Howard Chronicles Sedona, AZ — As Sedona.biz’s resident philosopher…”😳WTF r U-exactly?