By Greg ‘The Gadfly’ Doyle
As a conservative, I subscribe to the principle of limited government upon which our founding fathers created our Constitution and system of governance. The notion of restrictions on government power was paramount to the American Revolution, which broke away from a tyrannical ruler in King George of England.
If the government truly belongs to the people, then those who hold elected office, as well as those employed to handle the functions of government, must remember that not one penny collected in taxes belongs to them. It is the people's money, a trust that cannot be squandered on every whim or capriciously spent in pursuit of personal profit, prestige, or power.
The Declaration of Independence acknowledged that the freedoms our founders aspired to gain were God-given, not man-made; a divine gift from an acknowledged higher power of the highest possibility; the source responsible for our creation and order in the universe.
Unfortunately, as history consistently proves, the nature of man-made government is the exertion of the power of a ruling class over those who are subjugated to that ruling authority. And it was the foresight of our founding fathers that placed checks and balances within our system of government to minimize a power-grab by increase of government.
Capitalism has dangers. The wealthy can buy influence in government to their benefit. People can take risks with their capital and fail. But people are rewarded for hard work.
Socialism is a greater danger in that it removes the incentive to work hard. A government that redistributes the hard earned wages of a citizen to a sluggard commits both theft of property and stifles individual freedom.
Communism is the worst possible alternative form of government. It is the full force of government in every aspect of one's life without due process. The government, not the individual, determines the outcome of one's life for the sake of the State.
In our capital-driven form of rule, the inherent danger of assuming power over others can induce the feeling of entitlement with increased responsibility. Rather than viewing elected office as a sacred trust and solemn responsibility, usurpers tend to grab office like ravenous carnivores with rapacious appetites for fresh blood.
Such ambitious office-seekers, generally thirst for power and look for every opportunity to wield it in order to hold and increase their hold upon the electorate. As of late, the liberal policies of the current administration grant ample evidence of ambition and power-mongering.
Grow government and lose personal power---that is what Americans are experiencing in greater frequency. Government entanglement in financial and economic concerns has unfairly stacked the deck against those who disagree with the administration's view.
The gods of liberal thinking are worshiped at the altar of Climate Change. Our children are inculcated by government run schools to believe that traditions like faith, marriage, gun ownership are wrong and inherently evil; that Climate Change is real; that learning one's gender identity, not one's gender at birth is more critical than learning; that America is a terrible, imperialist country compared to the rest of the world.
The liberal media medicates their viewership with wide-eyed stories about Global Warming as if a meteor was minutes from slamming into the Earth to end us all. Meanwhile, they minimize real stories of the thousands upon thousands of people suffering at the hands of ISIS. It was this president who had his Joint Chiefs of Staff declare that Climate Change, not ISIS or our national debt, was the greatest threat to our way of life.
The lesser god of parental over-watch by our current government---the promise that government will take care of you and me from cradle to grave---is NOT a function of constitutional government. And yet, our government has now jeopardized and most likely sacrificed the future well-being of our children and grandchildren by increasing the size of government.
Trillions of dollars in national debt will come due. Who will pay it? Not the ones spending it like drunken sailors on liberty, that is certain.
Government entitlement is killing American prosperity. Instead of stimulating the economy by providing tax-incentives for businesses that actually provide jobs, our government encourages folks to NOT enter the workforce using our tax dollars! And our government determines which businesses will succeed or fail based on their beliefs in Climate Change.
Remember the 'Cash for Clunkers' program? It used taxpayer dollars as incentive for gas-guzzling car owners to surrender their vehicles for destruction, while providing more tax dollars in rebates to buy electric vehicles (most of which were not in production when the program was rolled out.) Anyone know how well that program worked? Hardly, the media ignored the failure because reporting it as a failure would make their favored administration look poorly in the eyes of an easily distracted public.
It certainly was not a boon for the American taxpayer. Free charging stations for electric cars are available in many big cities. Who pays for the free electricity? You guessed it...
Yet the progress toward appeasing the lesser god of Climate Change made the liberal ruling class feel good. Finally, that evil, nasty enemy of Climate Change, the oil industry would have tougher competition with the cleaner electric industry (approved of politically and supported with financial favors by liberalism.)
But has anyone asked the obvious? How is all that electricity generated? By big ugly windmills and solar power? By hydroelectric plants? By nuclear power plants? Who knows?
Any time you hear the government offering a tax credit for an energy program, some other taxpayer is footing the bill. You can take that to the bank.
If we could only get government out of our business, the economy might actually recover. This alleged economic recovery is a lesson in failed liberal policy. You cannot tax a nation into prosperity anymore than you can save a bleeding man by cutting into a healthy artery and removing more blood.
Our government needs to be reduced in size, which should facilitate a reduction in spending. Unless we hold our government into fiscal accountability, there is no end to the waste as bureaucrats and elected officeholders feed at the trough of government malfeasance.
I am not a fan of government. I recognize that some government is necessary and, in smaller doses, beneficial. To become government-dependent is to limit oneself and possibilities for future prosperity.
All hail the lesser gods of liberalism...and pay dearly and at too high a cost.
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