It is a common belief across the Balkans that the only purpose of government is to rob you blind. And there is no government that does not fit the bill. Having gone through feudalism, socialism, and capitalism in only a few generations, they know what they are talking about. Be the government foreign or your own, it is all the same. Those who want to be a part of it only want a license to steal. And that is all there is to it. Ever since the breakup of former Yugoslavia, the evidence is mounting that the Balkan peoples are right in their beliefs. Those few in government who do not rob you blind are only the proof of the old rule. And the evidence is mounting, indeed. One government official after another ends up behind bars, but so many of them are still free to steal as much as they wish. The license in their pockets, they know that they are pretty safe. The recent floods across the peninsula only buttressed the old Balkan beliefs. There was nothing to steal, and so the many governments were nowhere to be seen. Their conspicuous absence provided nothing but relief.