| CURRENT WEATHER: Clear, 41° |
|
|
|
||
|
||||
|
May 11, 2005
Looking through all the rhetoric
In the early development of our country, crass political forces herded new arrivals into polarized camps to ensure their candidate would secure the votes necessary to maintain power. Tammany Hall and the boys were among the first, great power brokers, and they ensured control of their voting blocks by whatever means available. It is said they were the first to allow voter potential beyond the grave. Later, people were told hair-raising tales of bloodthirsty heathens in the West who would kill anyone or anything in their path. These lies were necessary to provide for the expansion of political power with the right kind of folks, the kind who would vote correctly. And as we built our country and connected our boundaries with rail lines and roads, at the fore of the expansion were the political power brokers to ensure the new territories would become states only when they were assured the votes were properly aligned. Government itself was still quite constrained by traditional interpretation of the Constitution, and so people were free to work and develop and expand their visions without first having to ask permission. Inflation was not a factor during the 19th Century as the printing of money to cover government spending was not an acceptable concept. The consumer price index grew only 3 percent during a 40-year period after the Civil War, and the country had almost no debt. By the beginning of the 20th Century, progressivism became the rallying cry of those who believed our country was now so great we could accomplish heaven on earth. Utopian societies dreamed of and described in socialist or communist manifestos seemed achievable. It was understood that no form of government in existence at the time would support such goals and so the call for radical change began to flow around the earth. All we needed was the intervention of government into the everyday lives of people. People, left to their own devices, would strive for individual liberty and might miss their responsibility to make better the condition of all instead. If government would not bend to the inevitable, then revolution would be used to accomplish the desired end. And in some countries, revolution did come. Socialism and communism were tried in places representing 50 percent of the land area and almost the same percentage of population. Liberty was no longer an acceptable concept for these progressives and anyone who was stupid enough to doubt the refined logic of their positions was summarily put to death. Only recently has the truth been told about the mass murder of millions of Russians by those who professed to want only the betterment of the people. Farmers either had given up their lands to the government or they gave up their lives. Factory and service workers began new careers working for the betterment of the state, and in return, the state would provide for everything. Schools, hospitals, grocery stores and fire protection; laboratories, roads, communications and information resources were all going to become the benefit produced by everyone working together. After all, we were all comrades now. Today, we are still paying the price for this very noble, yet poorly thought out concept. Man's desire for and pursuit of individual liberty is occasionally overshadowed by short-term needs and desires. The worldwide economic depression of the 1930s provided a time for shadows to prevail. Historians and economists will argue the causes of the Great Depression, but the economic decay resulting from it was so severe that only entry into World War II finally ended the cycle of stagnation and unemployment. During those terrible times many efforts were made to provide hope and security to people who had lost theirs. Of course, ensuring the right voters were in charge wasn't a bad idea either. Today, we live in quite a different world. Governments are again being held accountable not just for what they have not done, but what they have as well. Information technology has opened the eyes of anyone willing to see and most do not find it comforting. The falsehoods so rampant in the theories of socialism and communism have been proven beyond a doubt. Utopia can only exist in the hearts of free people who are willing, not required, to do the right thing. Now is the time for our politicians to quit posturing and take a hard look at the systems we suffer to support, not try to convince us there isn't a problem in the first place. Liberty shall prevail. Little writes from Pahrump. His column, "The Other Side," appears here on Wednesdays. |
