Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis warned, "The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in the insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well meaning but without understanding." The freedom of individuals from compulsion or coercion never was, and is not now, the normal state of human affairs. The normal state for the ordinary person is tyranny, arbitrary control and abuse mainly by their own government. While imperfect in its execution, the founders of our nation sought to make an exception to this ugly part of mankind's history. Unfortunately, at the urging of the American people, we are unwittingly in the process of returning to mankind's normal state of affairs.
Americans demand that Congress spend trillions of dollars on farm subsidies, business bailouts, education subsidies, Social Security, Medicare and prescription drugs and other elements of a welfare state. The problem is that Congress produces nothing. Whatever Congress wishes to give, it has to first take other people's money. Thus, at the root of the welfare state is the immorality of intimidation, threats and coercion backed up with the threat of violence by the agents of the U.S. Congress. In order for Congress to do what some Americans deem as good, it must first do evil. It must do that which if done privately would mean a jail sentence; namely, take the property of one American to give to another.
According to a Washington Post article (6/22/05), there were nearly 35,000 highly paid registered lobbyists in Washington in 2004 who spent $2.1 billion lobbying the White House, Congress and various agencies on behalf of various interest groups. Political action committees, private donors and companies give billions of dollars to political campaigns. My question to you: Do you think that these people are spending billions of dollars to assist presidents and congressmen to better perform their sworn oath of office to preserve, protect and defend the U.S.
Constitution? If you do, you're a fine candidate for a straitjacket. For the most part, the money is being spent to get politicians and government officials to use their coercive power to create a favor or special privilege for one American at the expense of some other American.
If we Americans didn't give Washington such enormous control over our lives, I doubt whether there would be 10 percent of the money currently spent on lobbying and campaign contributions. This enormous control that Congress has over our lives also goes a long way toward explaining much of the government corruption that we see in Washington.
If the average American were asked whether he wishes to return to mankind's normal state of affairs featured by arbitrary abuse, control and government dictates, I am sure he would find such a suggestion repulsive. But if you were to ask, say, the average senior citizen whether Social Security, Medicare and prescription drug subsidies should be continued, he would probably answer yes. The same would be true if you asked a college professor whether higher education should continue to be subsidized, or a farmer or a dairyman whether their products should be subsidized, or a manufacturer whether there should be tariffs and quotas on foreign products that compete with his product. The problem with congressmen producing favors and privileges to all interest groups is that it creates what none of us wants: massive control, numerous dictates and micromanagement of our lives.
There is no question that if one were to ask whether we Americans are moving towards more liberty or more government control over our lives, the answer would unambiguously be the latter — more government control over our lives. We might have reached a point where the trend is irreversible and that is a true tragedy for if liberty is lost in America, it will be lost for all times and all places.
Walter E. Williams is a professor of economics at George Mason University. To find out more about Walter E. Williams and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.
COPYRIGHT 2008 CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.
 Email updates
 RSS Feed
|
|
 |
Comments
|
2 Comments | Post Comment
|
|
A double-edged sword. Government now is such a machine, the average American doesn't even begin to comprehend it or know how to deal with it. I believe those in office like it that way. They do their dirty deeds and we reap dirt cheap results. Medicare, low cost prescriptions, healthcare all askew because another part of our government has allowed spiraling out of control costs for these basic needs. Why isn't college education and higher education available to all? Maybe if it were, doctors and other professionals wouldn't have the huge student debt and would be required to keep costs affordable. Good doctors wouldn't be as rare as jewels and lawyers wouldn't be running the country. If drug company research is paid for with grants, which our taxes provide, why then are they allowed to price drugs and healthcare out of the reach of the average, let alone below average consumer? If American's can't take care of their elderly or infirm when they can no longer work or get hired at a livable wage, who will? Our government makes foreign import export deals which impact our spending, our surplus, and what we can and cannot grow at home. Government has it's hand in limiting all our lives. We can't use insect control that works because of government interference. The tobacco industry, out of business, government interference. (whatever is that money being spent on?). Lotteries are allowed to flourish while farmers are being told what they can and cannot plant and sell, government interference. Kids who could be working to help support families and learning a trade instead of getting into trouble can't get hired. Government interference. We people supported most of these measures due to problems and corruption, but government did not choose to respond responsibly and thoughtfully. As with the bailouts, they did a knee jerk response to get the problem of the table and move on to other matters. What would best serve the needs of the American people and their interests was never a consideration. Only the problem. So problem solved.
Comment: #1
Posted by: liz
Mon Oct 6, 2008 6:05 AM
|
|
mr williams,
i have admired your down-to-earth logic and common sense approach to political, economic and philosophical argument for many years. as a strategic planner and a treasurer and member of the board of directors at a michigan charter school, i have found your comments to be some of the very few bright moments in an otherwise increasingly corrupt nation.
that corruption has infiltrated every level of education, finance, trade unions, big business and local, state and federal governments. further, the increasing levels of condescention and outright hateful rhetoric coming from every age group, special interests, so-called leaders and political entities in our country gives me no reason to question my cynical view of our country's future.
contrary to newt gengrich's insistence that the republican party can be reclaimed, i believe both parties, as we know them today, are hopelessly corrupt and beyond salvation. the only chance we have to save ourselves and our constitutionally limited republic from the suffocation of socialism, is for true leaders, thinkers, effective executives with selfless and patriotic motives, to come together to create a new party with a solid platform based soley on the original constitutional intent of our founders. that platform must be marketed to the public during the next four years, in such a way that will assure the downfall of the corrupted system now infecting the district of columbia.
receipt of favors, transportation, vacations, money for any purpose.....receipt of any gift, in any form whatsoever, by any government official, elected, appointed or otherwise, must be considered felony bribery and punished accordingly.
the congress has made itself unaccountable and untouchable. they do not fear the people....but detest them as pests, as mere nuisances. our members of congress are operating a criminal enterprise. such day-to-day performance, or lack thereof, would land you and me on the street, or in many instances, in jail.
in truly believe that nothing short of violence will lead to a change in their attitudes and behaviors. of course, violence of the kind that would be necessary would likely lead to an irrevocable anarchy that would preclude for generations any return to the intended constitutionally limited government of the people, by the people and for the people.
tell me it ain't so.....that we're on the verge of losing the best that has ever been, to the worst of the few of us that our forefathers so aptly feared. it can't be that there are so few of us who honestly treasure the opportunities handed down to us....or have we finally secumbed to the pathetic and empty promises of socialism as nikita krushev predicted in 1963?
without a consolidation of true and honorable leadership in the near term, i am growing increasingly pessimistic about the future of our county. a 61 year-old entrepreneur for 30 years, i'm not certain that i will be able to afford to live the rest of my life in the united states of america. i'm actually looking to mexico and costa rica as reasonable alternatives to high taxes and inflationary pressures. a u.s. dollar in those countries goes 2 to 3 times as far as here in michigan. the congress couldn't care less!
lee rogers
davisburg, mi
Comment: #2
Posted by: Lee Rogers
Tue Oct 7, 2008 6:19 PM
|
|
|
|
