Big Government and the Status Quo

June 12, 2008

Incentives. They are everywhere, affecting everything we say and do, from shopping for groceries to what kind of car we drive to where we live and so many more. Incentives provoke thought and progress and keep us moving forward as individuals, small communities, and a country as a whole.

Sadly, the federal government today has no incentive to do anything but grow larger and larger. More taxpayer money means more cushy, bureaucratic jobs and less accountability for everyone involved. Every mistake matters a little less, at least relatively speaking, when there are so many mistakes to be found. Social Security is going broke? Don’t blame me, I’m busy trying to get “Big Oil” to stop hurting our environment (another mistake). And on and on it goes, one mistake masking another, the proverbial “buck” stopping nowhere, as long as the taxes just keep flowing in.

We must remember, in the words of Judge Andrew Napolitano, who the government works for. That would be us. We are the ones paying their inflated, monopolized salaries, and it is us who should stand up and demand accountability, at the very least. My plan is to start small, and then maybe get some actual results for our money down the line.

I wish the government would actually do something productive and at least let some intelligent debate clear the issues from all the spin and hype surrounding us. Any time a productive, or potentially productive use of the government’s (make that our) money comes up, it gets lost in the clutter of big government. We should be reviewing our laws and statutes every so often for two primary reasons:

Some laws get outdated. Politicians love to talk down to those who love and hold fast to the Constitution, claiming we are “in a new age.” Well, new ages do require new laws, although the Constitution is so well written that the principals held within are timeless. But while we are in so-called new times, why not review the nation’s laws every few years? Laws that deal with prohibition would fall by the wayside when an argument is made for personal freedom that is backed up by facts and common sense. Other outdated statutes, such as ones banning sex toys, or alcohol sales on Sundays, would also (most likely) be dropped as the country evolves.
People change, but our principles should not. We can’t rationalize away the Founding Fathers. I can no longer in good conscience sit here and see it happen, especially after reading the works of Ron Paul. He has really opened my eyes to the problems in our country and how to fix them. People are going online, eating fast food, driving fast cars, and many other things they didn’t do in the 1700s and 1800s. But the same fundamental building blocks are to be used as guidelines to our laws. Government does not need to be involved in energy reform, “SpyGate”, steroids in baseball, fast food, the Internet, health care, or even roads. Maybe that’s why they’re so opposed to change; they simply aren’t needed.

Every four years we get another presidential election, but more and more it is just one form of big(ger) government vs. the other. Everyone in favor of a smaller, more sensible federal government is effectively shut out of the entire process, for fear of unmasking the big politicians and exposing them for what they really stand for. Take Barack Obama. He is a pretty well educated man, speaks eloquently, and caters to his party’s main base of voters. But he has a critical flaw that also haunts John McCain. It can be one of two things.

Either:

Obama and McCain really do believe their big promises will make our country better off. The next time more government makes the population better off as a whole will be the first. So they are maybe just ignorant, or catering to their illogical, irrational voters to gain support.
Or perhaps Obama and McCain know these programs and policies, such as a “windfall profits tax” and staying in Iraq and other countries for as long as it takes (whatever that means) are just a sham meant to fatten the government and further rob the American public.
Both scenarios do nothing to benefit the people funding them, and should be averted. This election has nothing to do with black, white, old, Democrat, Republican, or anything else superficial. I could care less if a candidate came along who was crippled, obese, 95 years old and of Asian or Mexican descent, if that person held fast to the values of Ron Paul and others in favor of a smaller, more sensible government, I would be supporting them from Day 1.

Unfortunately, with all the spin and propaganda flying in from all directions, it’s hard for such a candidate to ever rise up. But whatever is worth doing is usually worth doing right, so, hard or not, it must be attempted and done if we are to again rise up among the world’s best countries.