Capitol Hill Blue Forums Political Issues Constitutional Issues The Self-Destructive Habits Of Politics

I find it interesting that we have allowed ourselves to become so blinded by the novelty of ideas to the point that we are willing to allow politicians, and even Justices such latitude as to manipulate the Constitution to the point that it becomes relative or simply circumstantial to the period in which we live instead of the foundational principle of law.

Even our esteem of the "unbiased" Courts is not safe from the acts of judicial interpretation, many of which have been novel in their decisions and there have been few that haven’t weaken the original position of the checks and balances that protected this country and its people for the onslaught of usurpation while extending the scope of powers of a growingly centralized government. There has been a slow fermentation, a rotting smell of corruption that has imbedded itself in this government, in the courts and its ineffectual dealings with the issues that its novel political crafters helped create through its "innovative" acts and legislations.

How easy it is for so many to overlook the fact that the Founders took every possible precautionary measure known to the political "enlightenment" to prevent the New Union of States from falling into the same pitfalls, making the same mistakes and rally around the same self-destructive habits that every other government had done previously. There were reasons for everything written in the Constitution, while not perfect, it was far better than anything that had come before...or since. Yet, we now take it for granted as though its principles were void of meaning or the understanding of human nature.

In this New Union of States, the people were to be left alone to explore the extent of their own individual fate and destinies, each with their own capacity to enjoy their lives, their liberty, and the fruit of their labors without threat from an intrusive government. Of course, when politicians began to feel that their ideas were better, that perhaps they should intervene in the affairs of the citizens with a myriad of ingenious and innovative programs, laws, prohibitions and limitations upon the people themselves, the changes they wrought have proven to be far from effective and have not only impeded the advancement of our society, but have caused several major problems that the politicians are all too happy to promise to solve, usually at election time.

The functions and delineations within the Constitution were very cautiously envisioned and clearly defined for very specific purposes, most of which were intended to make it difficult for the government to govern without careful and considerate deliberation. The layers of checks and balances were necessary, in the minds of the Founders, to keep the government in its proper place as a protector of the Rights and Liberty of the individual. The division of authority and power placed very defined limitations on each branch and the government as a whole.

The power of the government can only expand at the expense of the people’s liberty and their well-being. Eventually, of course, as we have seen, the people become subservient to the government itself and reflect that subservience not only in the way they think, but also in the way they conduct their lives. This ability to reach, either directly or indirectly, into the lives of the people was basically accomplished through economic intrusions by the government through innovative legislations, regulations and acts. We have now become subject to a massive host of laws that neglect the first principle of law, which is what will be the effect of such law on the people and their lives.

Today, people have become so accustom to these intrusions that most accept them as the normal state in which to live, without dissent, without questions. In many cases it appears that the people of this country cannot believe they could live or make a living without such intrusions into their lives by the government or that the economy would collapse without the government manipulating it. All business and economic decisions are not even made without first consulting regulations and laws that might affect commerce. It has become all pervasive even in the smallest of businesses everything is affected. In such an over-bearing atmosphere, large corporations have gained a distinct advantage with such a complex cacophony of laws, using them to improve their own competitive standing.

It appears that we continue to follow a path loaded with pit-falls that are completely opposed to our desire and ardent struggle for a better life, we just seem to accept it all as inevitable and beyond our control either as individuals or as a society. For decades the government has entered an area that it is neither equipped to deal with nor was created to control, that area is the economy. The character of government and the character of the economy are two completely different types of structures, yet they have been meshed over the decades in this country because it allows for very specific inroads into our individual lives while allowing for the unrestrained expansion of the government itself.

Economics and government have nothing in common, each should function in very different spheres within society, but it is now ingrained into our lives, our country, and our general society at large that it is hard for people to think of one without thinking of the other. Governments have always sought to control economics, but as usual, our government, like others who have intruded into the area of economics eventually fail to do either with a competence that benefits the general population of the country. Usually, in the end, the government proves only that it can ruin economic growth and thus widespread prosperity. While it is true that it has the power to stimulate economic growth through a fiat monetary system, that growth will eventually end as the monetary system collapses upon itself, as it is not self-sustaining. All prosperity within such a system is based on a particularly deceptive façade that is completely fabricated with debt; even the money itself is debt.

One of the primary determinations that a government has moved far beyond its mandate to protect the People and their liberty is when it moves to control, maintain and manipulate the economy. It assumes not only that it has the power to do so, but the arrogance that it can manipulate the economy to its political will and purposes, thus allowing for a greater degree of control over the population in general. Politicians seem to assume that economic laws are subservient to their will and within their power to control as is politically expedient; it is a fallacy that usually becomes all to evident when the economy doesn’t cooperate. Politicians simply cannot grasp that the economy is based on human behavior or as Mises said: Human Action and it doesn’t lend itself to overt political coercion over long periods of time. I am continually amazed that the people of this country place their trust in political leaders who seem to constantly overlook the consequences of their own political actions.

It is evident that when government involves itself in economic matters that it always, without exception, does so by the means of mandated confiscation, redistribution of wealth and a growing burden of bureaucratic legislations. The government, in such cases, becomes self-perpetuating, expansive and usually grows greedy for more and more resources to support its need to continue its own growth. Politicians usually loose sight of the purpose of government in these cases and the government becomes the world to them. They forget that government is not the purpose of government, that government is only the agent and not the substance of a country. Of course, eventually even politicians learn the lesson, usually the hard way, that it is economics that holds a heavier influence over politics than vice-versa. Economic issues have brought down many more governments than have been conquered through war, yet politicians seem to be slow to heed such historical facts. How many in history have failed to understand the principle that with an increase of government confiscation from production that production is reduced proportionally until economic collapse occurs, it is a law that is immune from all political ideologies. Throughout history, the same signs always point toward the same conclusion that governments tend to use the force of the economy to achieve particular political goals and the only way governments can use the force of a country’s economy is to siphon off the productive labors of its people. Economic deterioration will always lead to societal deterioration which always brings down the government. In every case, when the government resorts to confiscation to achieve its political and social goals it is absolutely impossible for that government to avoid the consequences of its actions.

At some point the people begin to no longer care about the fact that there is a decline in their society, that their government is non-effectual and unresponsive to the most pressing issues facing them. In such governments the burden of empire becomes all consuming to the point that it no longer is recognized by the laws that created it, but by the power that it imposes upon friend and foe alike all the while its foundation of purpose crumbles beneath its increasingly massive walls.