We dreamed a dream of freedom, and woke to find Congress considers us irrelevant. by Rimfrel
(libertarian)
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Modern liberals are notorious for basing their opinions on their feelings. They "feel bad" for the poor, for example. They often seem determined to cast dissenters (e.g. conservatives) as heartless and inhuman exploiters of the less fortunate. They aren't assuaged by the concept of "compassionate conservatism", as the rants against George W. Bush demonstrated.
They also have an astonishing faith in government. Could a benign dictatorship (individual or collective) do great good? History shows us the examples of benevolent kings, who indeed did great good. There are other examples of kings and other totalitarian leaders who did enormous harm to their people. People who want to do harm may be more attracted (than those who would do good) to leadership positions that offer enormous power. Perhaps the people doing harm are simply more noticeable. Either way, these leaders are human, subject to all the vicissitudes of human nature. And given unilateral power, the temptation to exercise it may become irresistible. Lord Acton famously said, "Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely." And when one has totalitarian power, one's wishes are liable to be acted upon before one can change one's mind. Regret won't put a broken egg (or a damaged life) back together.
The Founding Fathers were far more interested in politics than most modern citizens of the United States, which is a pity, as freedom seems to require constant vigilance. It is not merely the foreign enemies who would harm us, for whom we must be alert, but also the well-meaning do-gooders who are certain they know what is "right" -- the right thing to do, and the things people have a right to do. They try to appeal to one's compassion to donate to their cause, and if they cannot make progress, they are tempted to extreme behavior because the ends are so overwhelmingly important to them.
We have coasted through political turbulence for many years, feeling secure in the knowledge that we were strong and self-reliant, resourceful, and our fates were ultimately in our own hands. We often helped our neighbors, or received help from them, and shared both feast and famine with our community. We believed our government was bound by the Constitution, and that changes had to come via amendments, which the majority (three-fourths) of the states would have to ratify.
Our political nap has been grievously interrupted by the current Congress. While Congress has been behaving appallingly for years, indulging in corruption of each other and overlooking it, we at least had the conviction that they would listen to the majority of their constituents. When push came to shove, we felt we could bring them into line. We enjoyed government "of the people, by the people, for the people", after all.
The passage of the health care legislation has been a rude and frightening awakening. We were concerned about the bill, and the Congress resisted putting the text where we could easily read it. It was well-over 2000 pages, close to 3000 pages, and it was eventually posted a mere 72 hours before a vote. It may have been an adequate time for a Congressman or Senator with a staff, to divide it up and read it, then analyze it. It was not adequate time for people with jobs, and families, who also have this pesky need to sleep. Despite torrents of emails and faxes, active demonstrators shouting for attention, trying to show how unpopular the bill was, and polls showing more than half the voters were against it, the legislation was passed. There were political favors done that were written into the bill, such as the infamous "Cornhusker Kickback" that pays all Medicare expenses for Nebraska in perpetuity. There were others that were not written down. Some were alleged specifically, but with no proof other than supicious timing. The Speaker refused to even take seriously a question on the Constitutionality of the legislation.
People were understandably dismayed and quickly became angry at seeing their "representative" government turn out to be equivalent to letting a child select his personal nanny. The elected officials voted their conscience or their party loyalty, or whatever motivated them, but they did so in the face of manifest voter opposition. The bill passed. We are betrayed by those we trusted to do our will. They say we just don't understand the bill, and it's good for us, just wait and see. That is how one treats an immature child, not an adult. With an adult, one persuades them before committing acts upon them. Congress does not consider us adults. The Speaker actually said the bill had to be passed so we could find out what is in it. She blamed the dissenting forces in society for spreading lies and misinformation about the bill, for political gain. She and others allege that our dissent is based, at its core, on racism.
Nothing in the bill could grieve me more than the knowledge that my elected government thinks I am too stupid or immature to know what's good for me, that is has the right to take away what I work for and use it to improve the lot of others who are thereby disincentivized to provide for themselves. If I receive no more health care at all because the bill (hypothetically) is implemented in a way that says people over (my age - 1) don't benefit from medical treatment [which would be appalling as a government attitude, but not impossible], I will still feel much more injured by knowing my free country with its elected representative government no longer exists, except as a cherished dream.
I am awake now. And I will vote this November.
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Posted By: Walt Thiessen
Date: 2010-03-31 04:48:03
Well, let's be fair. It wasn't just the liberals who were ranting against George Bush. Libertarians did too, and rightly so. The man's presidency was a disaster from the perspective of liberty and freedom.
Your "rude awakening" is rather tardy: Congress has been in the pocket of special interests for a long long time. Better late than never! But if you think voting in November is going to solve the problem, you're being naive in the extreme. Just as Obama promised "Hope and Change" and then flipped off the people who had elected him, politicians this November will most certainly do the same. Real change will not involve politics, but rather determined actions on the part of the citizenry which let government thugs know on no uncertain terms that we will not submit to being treated as subjects and slaves any longer.
