On Government and 'the' Government

Several readers have asked me for my "opinion" on various levels or activities of our government. Before I start detailing the pros and cons I find in current government, you must understand that I view all government, of any kind, anywhere, at any time, as a "necessary evil." Humanity cannot live together in harmony without rules and getting certain things done.

Governments are operated by people and people have flaws; therefore, government cannot avoid being flawed. Our current national form of government has been described repeatedly as the "Great Experiment." We have based most lower forms of government within this nation on the same principle of consensus building and have achieved about the same results. It works, most of the time, it gets things done, most of the time. It also fails, some of the time; some of the time, things that government should not do and things that should not get done are done anyway.

An example of what government should not do is readily apparent from reading the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. If you read them objectively you will find that the Declaration proclaims that "all men are created equally," yet the Constitution, as it was originally written, states that "Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons." This clause, in Section 2 of the Constitution, is known as the "3/5's Compromise" and was one of several of the major factors that led to the Civil War. The ability to compromise things that should not be compromised is built into our system of government and is its greatest flaw.

The other great flaw in our system is the ability of government to do things that it should not be involved in at all. The thing that pops into my mind is the infamous Alaskan "Bridge to Nowhere," but there are many other "pork" projects that you could choose from. In the effort to build consensus to authorize things that are beneficial, there is a lot of "horse-trading" that goes on government. Something like, "If you will support the new Navy Shipyard to build aircraft carriers on the Eel River at Clay City, I'll support street repair in the City of Brazil." This is how we, the taxpayers, get to fund such things as repetitive studies on the life cycle of the fruit-fly, studies into why frogs croak, bridges to nowhere, and the like. One question that should be asked and answered by any government body, before the decision is made or put into practice, is "Is this needed, is this beneficial, or are we spending money without receiving the best value for the amount?" Another good question would be "Is this required at this level of government or is it actually something that should be the decision and expense of a lower level." As an example, should I, as a homeowner, having decided to build a shed in my backyard, ask you to fund part of the cost when you will not be using the shed? If a town wants to build a new town hall, should the state's taxpayers fund it?...all of the taxpayers in the nation? I just cannot see that a person should pay for something that is not of benefit to them. Now, do not get me wrong. If something is needed, our system of government allows for the "sharing" of wealth between governments of the same or different levels and that is a good thing. If you, through your Federal tax dollars, pay for a project in Arkansas or a study of why the crime rate changed in Dallas, the taxpayers who benefit from those things may have paid or may pay in the future for a study of a crop disease here or a post office in Bowling Green. If a project has a provable benefit to meet a provable need and is the best way to meet the need, then share the tax dollar. If not, don't and send me my refund. Taking roads as an example, Federal, State, and local funding is needed to have good roads through the nation, the state, and the local area. Many people, in this day and age, are unaware that National Defense was a major consideration in the development of the Interstates. That tied them to the provision in the Constitution that requires the Federal Government to "provide for the common defense." We all benefit from them, so we all pay for them even though we don't use every one of them or use them every day.

Our system of government is not perfect. None of our current government officials, at any level, are perfect. But, in the end, I'll borrow a phrase that is often attributed to Winston Churchill commenting on the electoral college as a method for electing the head of a government. Our democratic-republic is the absolute worst way of governing a nation (state, county, city, town, etc.), excepting all others.

This is why I seldom comment on the activities of the government or the people who sit "in the hot seats" that influence those activities. I take no sides in the Republican / Democrat or the "liberal/conservative confrontations. Abraham Lincoln said a mouthful when he said "You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time." While I would replace the word "fool" in that with the word "please" or "satisfy", the ultimate meaning is the same. I agree or disagree with all according to the issue and their stance on it. Some things need to be changed and some things do not; my opinion depends on what is being looked at, my perspective, and the facts that I have found.

We need government, but government cannot fail to be imperfect. Even in a monarchy, one person has never ruled a nation. A king may be the ruler, but someone else has always controlled who had access to his ear. It does not matter who is the Chief Executive, the Chief must ask a legislative body for approval. That legislative body is elected, in our system, but no one voter has the opportunity to vote for every representative within it.

We will keep "muddling" along as best we can.