Government VII: Last Chance to Choose Freedom

Lots of polls indicate that America is a center-right country. Most of us don’t believe in socialism, we like democracy and capitalism, and we cherish our freedom. We love being free, and the free market, and we love America. We are proud of our country, we think of ourselves as patriotic, and we believe that America is exceptional: freedom’s greatest ally and the great hope of freedom loving people everywhere. We believe that families are the foundation of our society. We want freedom of religion not from religion. We like being self sufficient, and we have high hopes for our future and even higher ones for our children. We are generous, and we are more than willing to help those who cannot care for themselves, but we have little compassion for those who will not care for themselves. We want the government to protect us from enemies outside our borders and criminals inside our borders, but not from ourselves. Unless we become disabled, we don’t want the government or anyone else to take care of us – this especially includes economists, academics, intellectuals, the media, movie stars, politicians, progressives, and others of supposedly superior intellect and understanding who offer themselves as our leaders and caretakers.

So how does a country like us keep moving to the left, toward socialism? Many pundits say we are already a “socialist democracy”. How did that happen?

Actually, freedom, the genius of our system, has been its own downfall. Here is the litany of American freedom. America is great because it is free. Because America is free, opportunity is everywhere and individual strengths such as courage, drive, determination, pride, and a strong work ethic became the greatest determinants of financial and personal success. Because Americans valued individual strengths, Americans and American immigrants strove to develop those traits in themselves and their children; and, America became the most successful and productive country in the world. Because America was so successful, it became a safe, comfortable, and easy place to live. Because America was such an easy place to live, Americans became complacent, placed less value on individual strengths, and relied increasingly on government. Because America was complacent, individual strengths were gradually replaced with values such as self gratification, comfort, leisure activities, and dependency – a setup for ambitious politicians who promised entitlements and an easier life, all provided by a beneficent government that would take care of you. Entitlements, easier life, dependency on a strong central government - read socialism. Earlier Americans would have rebelled at the very thought of government or anyone else taking care of them. Their entire life’s work was dedicated to being able to care for themselves and their families. Many of us still feel the same way.

And it all began with freedom, our greatest value, our greatest gift, our genius. But, like so many precious things, freedom is fragile. It must be cherished, nurtured and carefully protected lest it become lost, deteriorated, or even destroyed. Freedom is the source of our strength and success, but we have lost touch with it. We have chosen comfort over freedom. We have succumbed to the temptations of an easier life of ever-increasing government benefits, purchased at the cost of our individual freedom.

This was not a revolutionary process. It evolved slowly at first and took root with the early 20th century progressives, followed by Roosevelt’s New Deal and Johnson’s Great Society, and kicked into high gear with the Obama Administration and Democrat control of both houses of congress.

Let’s get specific. In a democracy, government requires the support and consent of the governed, the productive class. We, the productive class, rarely agree to pay for government expansion without the expectation that it will provide benefits of at least comparable worth. So, progressive politicians have slowly traded benefits for our votes and some of our freedom. Initially, these benefits were practical in nature, but, once the basics were secured, the only benefits left to offer involved comfort, ease of life, and entitlements intended to “take care” of us. Because all new benefits and entitlements require more bureaucrats to process and manage them, the government continues to grow and expand. The costs associated with continually growing the government and providing increasing benefits and entitlements have now dwarfed the revenues that the government collects from taxes, so the government now has to borrow nearly as much money as it collects. Any country, business, family or individual that spends twice as much as it makes is sure to go broke. President Obama tripled the federal deficit his first year in office. The government has borrowed so much money that symptoms of a failed economy are everywhere – devaluation of currency, long term recession, failures of some economic sectors, etc. Worst of all, we have saddled our grandchildren with a huge bill. This is the first time in American history that we have asked a younger generation to sacrifice their own quality of life in order to pay for the comfort and benefits of a preceding generation. The American ideal has always been to pass on increasing opportunity and a better, stronger country. We are passing on a weaker country, a government that punishes success, a huge debt and a stifled economy. We ought to be ashamed, and our grandchildren will tell us so.

As a consequence, folks from all walks of life and political persuasions are questioning the wisdom of a big and growing government accumulating all this debt and insinuating itself into private businesses and our private lives. Washington’s only answer is that everything will get better if we only allow the government to grow even more, gain more power, and borrow more money (in total violation of the first law of holes: when you find yourself in one, stop digging). Nonetheless, in order to quell the growing public distrust, and to stay in power, rest assured that progressive politicians will continue to offer even more benefits (entitlements) and to tax “only the rich” in exchange for our votes and a little more of our freedom.

Right now we are at a critical junction. We, the productive class, must utilize our shrinking majority to stop the government growth before we forfeit too much. If the productive class fails to act in time, we will lose our majority status and any chance of reversing the course. The government will then be in complete control and will no longer need the consent of the governed – pure socialism. We will no longer be citizens – we will be subjects.

Think I’m crying wolf? Check out our economy right now: high unemployment, a stagnant stock market, housing market stuck in low gear, falling dollar values, deflation with a constant threat of inflation, small business choked by a regulatory nightmare, entire economic sectors bailed out or taken over by the federal government, tsunamis of government “stimulus” money that fails to stimulate, heath care (17% of the economy) overhauled in favor of the government, looming cap and trade legislation that will skyrocket all our energy costs, etc., etc., all capped by a staggering national debt – I’d say our economy is teetering on the edge of a chasm.

We are certainly at a crossroads where we must decide whether to abandon the free market and become socialists or to stop and reverse the unsustainable growth of government. Will we find the courage to fight for our core principles of democracy, capitalism, and freedom or will we just become lackadaisical euro-socialists? It may already be too late.