People vs. The State – The Coming Battle

In a democratic system, the majority expresses itself through the ballot box. When representatives become unresponsive to the citizenry, they are voted out of office. But what if the replacements are no better than their predecessors? What happens when the “vote-the-bums-out” strategy fails, because the replacements are worse reprobates than the old ones? When the system is perceived to be so corrupt that the ballot box is no longer believed to be a vehicle for reform, then what? Answers to these questions are uncertain, usually unique to the vagaries of  the situation, time and place. Nowhere in history has a people been more ingrained with the spirit of liberty and individualism, suggesting that the answers provided by the US may be especially unique.

Americans have always had an inherent distrust in government. The country was founded on the belief that government was necessary, but also a threat to freedom. As Thomas Jefferson said: “History, in general, only informs us what bad government is.” Others were just as adamant. As expressed by Patrick Henry: “The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government – lest it come to dominate our lives and interests.” From the beginning, government was recognized as a potential evil. Per George Washington: “Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.”

Despite being one of the most remarkable documents ever written, the Constitution began losing ground almost immediately to the natural tendency for government to accumulate power and metastasize into a State. Jefferson expressed early concern: “I think we have more machinery of government than is necessary, too many parasites living on the labor of the industrious.” (What might he think now?) Over time, assaults against the Constitution and Rule of Law only intensified. Serious damage was done in the early Twentieth Century, especially during the crisis of the Great Depression. “Crises,” often invented, are usually the excuse for additional infringement to either civil or economic rights. They are the feed upon which the State grows. The War on Poverty and War on Drugs are two memorable examples. G. W. Bush did serious Constitutional damage using the cover of The War on Terrorism. Additional damage has occurred under the guise of fighting this Economic Crisis.  At this point, it appears as though the Constitution has been reduced to little more than toilet paper. To most of our legislators, it is merely a quaint artifact that cannot be allowed to stand in their way. Their need to “protect” people is more important than constraining rules and principles.

The Rule of Law has met the same fate. Contracts have been overturned by executive order or a majority of the legislature. We have morphed from the Rule of Law to the Rule of Man, despite cautions from our founders like Jefferson: “In questions of power then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.” The certainty of contract has been voided. The continuity of custom, tradition and common law can no longer be assumed. Individuals and business firms operate in a cloud regarding the future. Does an existing agreement or contract mean anything? If a bank writes a mortgage contract today, will it be honored by the courts tomorrow? What type of tax structure may result from the massive deficits? Will current laws be abrogated without recourse? All of these (other than the unknown tax changes) have already happened. Is it any wonder that business has come to a standstill and that people are afraid?

Wars are started without declaration by Congress. The Bill of Rights, or what remains of it, is under constant attack. Virtually every legislator has his own idea of how to make the lives of citizens better, despite what citizens might want or think. Little or nothing is allowed to stand in the way of such legislation. The people are assumed to be inept, incompetent souls. Such an assumption easily leads to the position that elites must take care of them. Individuals are presumed too dumb to know what is in their best interest so their lives must be ordered by the State.

Our country has arrived at this point through a continuous but circuitous route. The one consistency has been the decline of personal freedoms and the rise in the power of the State. While still a beacon of freedom for much of the world, America is dangerously close to losing this status. The tradition of freedom and individualism that resides in the American experience is under attack. While our leaders may believe they are improving the lot of the people, the people themselves appear to feel otherwise. A potentially dangerous conflict has developed. Whether this conflict is unknown by the leaders or merely ignored is irrelevant. The State is insistent on imposing ”good” on the country because they know better than the hoi polloi. They appear willing to do so regardless of the consequences. As expressed long ago by Ludwig von Mises: “Most of the tyrants, despots, and dictators are sincerely convinced that their rule is beneficial for the people, that theirs is government for the people.”

Frustration with government is normal. What we are witnessing now is not. We have one or two wars opposed by the majority of voters. We had a highly unpopular immigration bill that was nearly passed before citizens barraged their representatives with negative commentary. Last year the Tarp bailout  package was passed despite opposition that was measured at around 90%. We now face health care “reform” that, in its current form, is strongly opposed. Representatives in Washington seem hell-bent on obstructing any democratic input. Extraordinary measures are contemplated to accomplish this. They apparently plan to change the rules regarding a vote, and then pass it without even reading it. A review period for the public is highly unlikely. Apparently it must be passed quickly before either they or the public knows what is in it. All of this suggests that the legislation is so bad that any review would kill it. As Jefferson said: “Delay is preferable to error.” All of this “hurry up and vote” takes on special meaning because the legislation will not take effect until 2013.

Fears of the public are not unjustified. Our experience with government programs is a history of failures too long to relate. Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are insolvent to the tune of $100 plus Trillion dollars. That is, the public has been promised that much in benefits (in present value terms) over and above what is projected to be collected. That promise is double the entire wealth of the country which is only about $50 Trillion. Amtrack, the Postal Service and other government operations are economic wards of the State. The bailouts of Wall Street with taxpayer dollars will result in enormous losses and costs to our children and grandchildren and do little to save the economy. The quality of Education continues to decline at a dangerous rate. On international test scores, the US ranks near the bottom in science and math when compared to other developed nations. Most things government does, do not work. Those things that do, do so poorly. Much of the current health care system problems result from prior government interventions. The idea that they can run 17% of the economy would make for great comedy if it were not so scary. With this control, they literally will have the power of life and death over the citizenry. You will be told what to eat, how you must live and when you must die. The fact that Massachusetts imposed a similar plan that is failing does not matter. Nor does the imminent collapse of the Canadian and British healthcare systems.

Integrity and morality amongst the elected seems to be at an all-time low. Several in the current Administration failed to pay taxes, including the head of the Treasury. The Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, responsible for writing tax law, seems to have missed or ignored more income than most people earn during the best third of their working life. Votes are routinely bought via taxpayer dollars that are regularly squandered in the form of earmarks for useless projects. Legislators are routinely bought by corporations looking for favors. Wall Street is bailed out with Trillions while Main Street is virtually ignored. The quote of Samuel Adams seems especially appropriate today: “The public cannot be too curious concerning the characters of public men.” Unfortunately we know their character and are still unable to remedy the cesspool called Washington.

Accurately measuring the pulse of a people is always difficult. Public demonstrations, while noticable and dramatic, can be misleading to the extent that they represent a small portion of the populace. Despite minority support, such tactics often result in change (laws may change, “rights” or entitlements may be expanded, etc.). Narrowly-defined objectives that produce defined benefits for specific, minority interests are easier to rally around than majority interests. Economists refer to this behavior as “rent-seeking.” There are obvious incentives to become involved and press for change when the benefits will be material. Majorities do not have a comparable incentive. Benefits favored by majorities tend to be small on a per capita basis, if not impossible to define. If the ballot box does not work, there is no political equivalence to activism because rent-seeking is not possible. Hence the majority does not typically look at extraordinary political means because they are not worthwhile. They tend to invest more in work, family and other daily issues of life where the returns are higher. But there is evidence that the masses are becoming restless. The September 12 March on Washington was but the latest example.

No Constitution is perfect, although ours arguably came closer than any other. In a democratic society, no Constitution is safe. If the demands of the people run counter to the Constitution, the people will be served. That is the reason why democracy is so dangerous and self-destructive. As Jefferson stated: “A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine.” For an interesting video on this subject, click on the following: 

Just as no Constitution can survive against the will of the people, nor can any government. Regardless of how many guns and how repressive a State may be, ultimately the people’s demands will prevail. As Thoreau stated: “All men re­cog­nize the right of rev­o­lu­tion; that is, the right to re­fuse  al­le­giance to and to re­sist the gov­ern­ment, when its tyr­anny or its in­ef­fi­ciency are great and un­en­dur­a­ble.” Citizens always outnumber the power and resources of the State. The overthrow of the repressive Russian government was merely a recent example. This fact makes the position of current politicians perplexing. Obviously the American public does not want what is being jammed down their throats, yet the arrogance of the State is such that it does not appear to care. Perhaps, as in most other political matters, the ruling class is counting on the “political bill” to come due when they are out of office. After all, the USSR repressed its people for more than 80 years before collapsing.

We no longer have a functioning democracy or representative republic. What we now have is tyranny; an arrogant State that ignores the wishes of its people. Given our historical roots in liberty and prosperity, we have reached a very critical juncture. People are realizing their freedom is being taken away. What hasn’t sunk in yet is the extent to which recent government policies will impoverish the country. This economic crisis has a long way to go and probably will result in a permanent reduction in living standards of 15 – 20%, or more! As this becomes apparent, the silent majority will become active. The timing or shape of the eventual reaction cannot be reasonably predicted, but Eric Hoffer’s comment might apply: “Beware of the anger of the inarticulate, they have no means of expression but violence.” Modification of Hoffer’s comment by substituting the word “unheard” or “unlistened to” in place of “inarticulate” might better update it to the current situation. Let us hope that Jefferson’s advice is not necessary: “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”

We have what I have described as a wounded and cornered animal (the government) soon to run into a wounded and cornered public. The confrontation, when it occurs, will not be pretty. Whether the government wins the battle and we become a third-world economy or the public prevails and we return to the principles upon which the country started cannot be determined. What can be determined is that the battle will be epic and one of the participants will not survive in its current condition. Regardless of the outcome, ultimately the people will prevail. If they lose the current battle, it might be an ugly, painful multi-decade period before they eventually win the  war. In the words of John F. Kennedy: “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.”