It is very popular among Republican right wing politicians to promote the virtues of limiting the government. Just this morning I saw a video clip of Texas Governor Rick Perry saying "we want to make government inconsequential in the lives of Americans." On the surface, this sounds very inviting. Who, no matter your political affiliation does not see having as little interference as possible from government, all governments; federal, state, city or county in your personal life as a good thing? But what does this really mean? I submit that this is a far more complicated issue than the average American realizes and America's history, when clearly understood, does not make this seem very attractive at all.
Literally from Americas beginning the same forces of humankind have been in play that have existed throughout human history. Put bluntly, the greed and ambition of the few has always interfered in the lives of the average person. Throughout Americas history, the daily fight to simply survive has dominated most peoples lives from birth to death. Until the advent of the organized labor movement, few people ever envisioned the day when they might ever have significant leisure time for themselves or their families. The concept of quality of life was solely the domain of the wealthy and most people lived and died knowing very few personal pleasures outside of the simple love they could share with those they shared their life's journey with.
People worked hard, shared sacrifice and mostly could not miss what they had never known. This sounds very nice and romantic, and in many ways may have been far less complicated and difficult than many of the life's challenges we face today. But before you get carried away with this vision, lets consider the other side of this coin.
Most towns were dominated by someone. It might be the rich rancher, banker, railroad magnate, oil man, miner turned wealthy land developer or could just have easily been the town drunk and/or bully. Fact is, few lived in a vacuum even then and most people lives were impacted by forces they had no control over. Americas legacy of westward expansion was fueled by the same desires that their earlier ancestors had which drove them to cross the oceans, to find a better life, free from domination by evil despots.At every interval along the way people hungered for freedom and protection from those that prey on the simple honest person. Every vestige of government at every level was created and grew because of the desire of the people to have their freedoms protected from those who would subjugate and deny them.
America has a legacy of fighting for its freedom, most Americans will proudly boast of this. But most don't seem to understand that the greatest fight for those freedoms has always been right here at home. No foreign power has ever represented the kind of clear and present danger to the average Americans life that the crooks, despots, con artists, dominating wealthy and other distinctly local characters have presented in every part of America throughout its existence. At every turn in American history which we proudly point to as turning points in American economic evolution, greed driven criminal acts and the violence that accompanies them has been the unacknowledged companion that has driven the growth of government. Air pollution, water pollution, entire towns dominated by criminal gangs, corruption, brutality, murder all are not only a part of Americas history, but still is a problem at times in our country. Imagine an America in which there was no independent police force, fire department. No local government to regulate business and provide leadership on behalf of those who have little personal power. No federal government to monitor and regulate the activities of the ruthless greedy who even now exploit every loop hole to gain every dollar they can no matter the cost to you and I. The criminal acts that led to the collapse of Enron, the collapse of the banking industry brought on by illegal and unscrupulous activities, stock manipulations by wall street insiders and the power of ruthless criminal empires would go unchecked in a society devoid of or having only severely limited central checks and balances as can only be provided by an independent government responsible only to us citizens.
It is easy to understand why the ruthless among us would want to return such a time. It is hard to understand why you, the honest hardworking citizen of America who only wants to provide a quality life for themselves and their loved ones would want to repeat a cycle that never results in anything other than the benefit of the few at the suffering of the many.
I urge Americans to be come more active and more diligent to help make sure the government serves the peoples best interests. Limit wealthy interests ability to stack the deck against the interests of the average citizen. It is our right to demand that the government provide as best it can according to our joint agreed upon desires. It is normal that this process will be at times difficult and will not please everyone, but I urge you to resist being brainwashed by the the Limbaughs, Becks, Hannity's, Bachmanns, Palins,Perry's and others who serve a very limited group of masters. No matter how friendly they seem and how forcefully they tell you they have your best interests at heart, history tells us nothing can be farther from the truth.
Be careful what you wish for.
Literally from Americas beginning the same forces of humankind have been in play that have existed throughout human history. Put bluntly, the greed and ambition of the few has always interfered in the lives of the average person. Throughout Americas history, the daily fight to simply survive has dominated most peoples lives from birth to death. Until the advent of the organized labor movement, few people ever envisioned the day when they might ever have significant leisure time for themselves or their families. The concept of quality of life was solely the domain of the wealthy and most people lived and died knowing very few personal pleasures outside of the simple love they could share with those they shared their life's journey with.
People worked hard, shared sacrifice and mostly could not miss what they had never known. This sounds very nice and romantic, and in many ways may have been far less complicated and difficult than many of the life's challenges we face today. But before you get carried away with this vision, lets consider the other side of this coin.
Most towns were dominated by someone. It might be the rich rancher, banker, railroad magnate, oil man, miner turned wealthy land developer or could just have easily been the town drunk and/or bully. Fact is, few lived in a vacuum even then and most people lives were impacted by forces they had no control over. Americas legacy of westward expansion was fueled by the same desires that their earlier ancestors had which drove them to cross the oceans, to find a better life, free from domination by evil despots.At every interval along the way people hungered for freedom and protection from those that prey on the simple honest person. Every vestige of government at every level was created and grew because of the desire of the people to have their freedoms protected from those who would subjugate and deny them.
America has a legacy of fighting for its freedom, most Americans will proudly boast of this. But most don't seem to understand that the greatest fight for those freedoms has always been right here at home. No foreign power has ever represented the kind of clear and present danger to the average Americans life that the crooks, despots, con artists, dominating wealthy and other distinctly local characters have presented in every part of America throughout its existence. At every turn in American history which we proudly point to as turning points in American economic evolution, greed driven criminal acts and the violence that accompanies them has been the unacknowledged companion that has driven the growth of government. Air pollution, water pollution, entire towns dominated by criminal gangs, corruption, brutality, murder all are not only a part of Americas history, but still is a problem at times in our country. Imagine an America in which there was no independent police force, fire department. No local government to regulate business and provide leadership on behalf of those who have little personal power. No federal government to monitor and regulate the activities of the ruthless greedy who even now exploit every loop hole to gain every dollar they can no matter the cost to you and I. The criminal acts that led to the collapse of Enron, the collapse of the banking industry brought on by illegal and unscrupulous activities, stock manipulations by wall street insiders and the power of ruthless criminal empires would go unchecked in a society devoid of or having only severely limited central checks and balances as can only be provided by an independent government responsible only to us citizens.
It is easy to understand why the ruthless among us would want to return such a time. It is hard to understand why you, the honest hardworking citizen of America who only wants to provide a quality life for themselves and their loved ones would want to repeat a cycle that never results in anything other than the benefit of the few at the suffering of the many.
I urge Americans to be come more active and more diligent to help make sure the government serves the peoples best interests. Limit wealthy interests ability to stack the deck against the interests of the average citizen. It is our right to demand that the government provide as best it can according to our joint agreed upon desires. It is normal that this process will be at times difficult and will not please everyone, but I urge you to resist being brainwashed by the the Limbaughs, Becks, Hannity's, Bachmanns, Palins,Perry's and others who serve a very limited group of masters. No matter how friendly they seem and how forcefully they tell you they have your best interests at heart, history tells us nothing can be farther from the truth.
Be careful what you wish for.
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