David Bergland on the "PANG" (People Are No Good) premise

This fallacy is found in almost every argument for government regulation or intrusion into peoples' lives.  The unstated premise is that people are weak, stupid, helpless, incompetent, dishonest and dangerous to themselves and others.  Consider these examples: Social Security programs are necessary because people would not otherwise provide for their own future; the draft is necessary because not enough people would be willing to defend America; drug laws are necessary because without them we would be a nation of stoned-out people incapable of doing anything; compulsory school attendance laws are necessary because parents wouldn't educate their children.

The PANG premise has a huge logical hole in it.  Those who use it always exclude themselves from the class of "people" who are weak, stupid, helpless, incompetent, dishonest and dangerous to themselves and others.  If the PANG premise were valid, the last thing anyone would want is a large powerful government managed by such people, running your life and mine.  As one wag put it, "If people are basically good, you don't need a government; if people are basically evil, you don't dare have one."

The reality is that most people, most of the time, act properly.  They don't lie, cheat, steal, rape or murder.  Most of the time most of us act on the libertarian principle of respect for other human beings, recognizing that they have the right to control their own affairs, and expecting that they will deal with us peacefully and honestly as well.

~ David Bergland, Libertarianism in One Lesson, p. 9