A Citizen's Decision

In their heart of hearts, all believers see perfection of the human condition as a possible
and worthwhile goal.

If you're a cynic, you believe that you can use the popular sentiment for such noble
causes as the means to achieve your more worldly goals of achieving political power
and control.

If only enough of the correct, enlightened, people are in positions of political power,
the believers know our problems can all be solved, if only we behave as they tell us
to behave...because, of course, they know best.

What a wonderful world is in store for us, if only the liberals or the conservatives, the
socialists or the fascists, the theists or the communists, or the monarchists, have their
way.

Even Ayn Rand and the libertarians seem to believe that rationality will deliver us to the
promised land...as if humans could, or would, ever attain pure rational behavior.

The truth is, no man is perfect.  No man knows the entire truth.  No man would see
himself, or his family and friends suffer, if he had the power to prevent it, even at
the expense of others.

OK, maybe "no man" is an exaggeration.  Perhaps there are some, few, truly exceptional
individuals out there who fit this profile.  You and I and maybe Jesus come to mind,
but other than us, I can't come up with any politician, bureaucrat, executive, professor,
businessman, or union leader who fits the bill.

Actually, I'm not that sure about you, either...and, if I'm really honest about it, I know
I'm no saint, for sure.

It continues to amaze me how the founders, so many years ago, saw the problem with
human nature and designed a structure to protect the individual from abuse at the hands
of a federal government run by the few and the powerful.

None of the prior, existing forms of government, or the more recent structures such as
Socialism, Communism, or Fascism, have proven themselves more effective or more free.

And the more modern incantation of American government...a sort of cacophony
of Democrats and Republicans competing for re-election funds from corporations,
unions, ethnic groups, religious groups, environmental groups, and every other
special interest group conceivable, does not seem to be much concerned about
the freedom and welfare of the individual, either.

The founders knew that, if the power was there to be used, it was there to be
abused...and it IS human nature to abuse it.

It's time to reel in some of the power the federal government has taken, to limit the
reach of the government, and to return it to its original mission of protecting
individual freedom.

But the truth is, fault lies not with the politicians and organizations that abuse the
system for their own benefit, but with the individual citizens, who do not see
themselves as individuals, but as part of a collective group that is trying to pressure
the federal government to confer benefits on their group at the expense of other
individuals or groups.

Somewhere, somehow, it has become more important to be a black, white, Latino,
or gay American...to be a businessman or union member, to be gender-centric, or an
American with disabilities, or of a particular religion, etc...than it is to be an American.

When citizens identify more with their interest group than with their rights and
responsibilities as individuals, they become easy prey for politicians who would
divide and manipulate citizens, in their search for power and control.

Preventing the federal government from taking from some and giving to others is
a proper goal in many instances, but it will never happen unless citizens view their
individual liberty, rights, and responsibilities as more precious than is their right to
organize into collective groups to petition the federal government to take from
others and to give to their particular interest group.

Citizens do get the government they deserve.