The Big Red Bogeyman

Posted at November 7, 2011

What is government’s real purpose for existence? I came of age in the U.S. during the 70′s and 80′s. I was indoctrinated with a view of the world in “us versus them” terms. That is, western-style democracy versus anything else….especially the so-called “red menace” of the “cold-war” era. Even though that period is now dead and buried (or is it?), I believe people in the U.S. still tend to think in those terms. The presidency of Barack Obama has accentuated those differences (between the “left” and the “right”). That is, the differences among folks who believe government should (the “socialists”) and those that believe government shouldn’t (the “capitalists”). What I personally have come to believe (strongly) is that those sorts of labels only serve to close the minds of otherwise potentially creative thinking people. I would just as soon do away with them….to tear down those walls of in-the-box thinking much in the same way that the Berlin wall came crashing down.

So the question becomes, without limiting one’s thinking under the guise of any particular dogmatic label, what is government’s true roll in our collective lives? On the one hand you could say that government should control all means of production so that its fruit could be distributed evenly. “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need (or needs)” as Marx would say. The problem with that approach is that it would prevent the likes of a Steve Jobs from every arising above the fray to produce incredibly innovative and life enhancing stuff. Why? Not because there would be no one smart enough, but because government would be too constrained to think and act with practicality to ever introduce such an impractical (and unaffordable to the masses) innovation as the I-pod, or I-phone. The great thing about “free enterprise” is that people are free to pursue insanely impractical paths (or at least at the time of their pursuing it often seems that way). So, no, I don’t believe that is governnment’s proper role (whew! my mom just gasped as she wipes the sweat from her forehead….relieved to know that her son is not a Marxist).

No, rather, I believe that government’s proper role is to prevent, or at least stifle, exploitation, both from within and without. Our military and internal forces of control exist (or should exist) to take care of those that would attempt to inflitrate and exploit from without. But in a free capitalistic society, there are far too many within that also seek to exploit and take advantage. The Occupy Wall Streeters are trying to send a message that government is not doing a very good job in that latter role. In fact, one could say that in this society of “capitalism run amok” government has in many ways become a facilitator of exploitation (or, worse, an exploiter itself). It happens anytime a so-called “special interest” is given a leg up, which is the sine quo non of government-backed capitalistic exploitation. Government’s role should always be to act benevolently, that is, for the common good, and never for the benefit of one particular group, enterprise, political sub-division, or individual. It is the role of government to oversee and deal harshly with those that would exploit our planet, our seniors, the poor, the infirm, the handicapped, and even those of us healthy enough to help ourselves. The problem is that in pitting our system, or ideology against the rest of the world, all too often we justify exploitation. We all too often support the idea that the rich should get richer at the expense of the poor getting poorer because, after all, “they” (the “job-creating” class) are the best chance the poor have of advancing. Or we justify the exploitation of developing countries because, after all, that is the best chance the poor backward thinking people of those countries have to taste the sweet taste of our brand of democratic freedom (even when they really don’t want it). The problem is that exploitation is exploitation AND “it” is always wrong. I believe that unless government can be reigned in to its proper role of being a barrier rather than a facilitator of exploitation, nations will continue to be at war and people within them (as well as the planet in which we all reside) will continue to suffer.