Crisis Management

In my previous column I explored some of the ways that government either creates a crisis or makes it worse. Government by its very nature always seeks to grow larger….similar to water always seeking its own level. So, when you merge the natural inclination of government with an ideological mindset that believes that government is the source of all that is good, wise and compassionate, you are facing an entity with an insatiable appetite for power and control. Clearly, the first line of defense against the monster is to prevent the election of those who have the ideological bent for an all-encompassing governmental apparatus. So far for the past 100 years or so, the voters of the United States have not been as diligent as they should be when electing their leaders. In fact, it appears that U.S. voters prefer the Nanny State and the corresponding loss of freedom. Of all the crises that we face today, the mindset of a large portion of the voting populace may be the most destructive and difficult to overcome.

While we do indeed have politicians who are wedded to big government solutions and the attendant power that accompanies them, they would not succeed in their election races if the people in their districts were not enamored with large government and the benefits that they reap from other people’s money. Indeed, the primary beneficiaries of the government goodie game are the most powerful impetus for our current fiscal situation. If the people were unanimously committed to small constitutional government, that is what we would have. Our leaders are followers and will flow to where the votes are. The fact that a significant portion of our populace belongs to the looter class has resulted in a political class determined to satisfy them. The looters have captured the power and force of government to coerce the producers, undermine liberty and violate the sacred nature of personal property. One of obvious management devices for the fiscal crisis is to correct or neutralize the moral crisis. When one capable person expects to live and benefit from the labor of others, the policy crisis arises from the immorality of the recipient’s expectations and the government’s willingness to loot the producer.

The most effective management tool for averting a crisis is to anticipate it. A preemptive move to mitigate the danger can transform a potentially dangerous situation into a nearly routine action.  So how do we translate this precept into the political and governmental realm?  As Thomas Jefferson warned,” the price of freedom is eternal vigilance.” We cannot do as we have done before. We cannot cavalierly select our political class and hope that they will be true guardians of our liberty. We definitely cannot elect and continually re-elect those who have failed their fiduciary responsibility to protect and defend the liberty of the citizens. We cannot return politicians who legislate or administer without regard for the integrity of the nation….no matter what they claim as justification for overspending or overreaching actions by government. We cannot persist in supporting candidates who insist on banging the drums of war against every tin pot despot on the planet. Our border security, our national defense, our fiscal obligations and our valuable young men and women are too important for adventurous politicians to squander. If any politician at any time violates these understandings or the oath of office, their political careers should end. Vigilant voters should call them out and vote them out.

Historically, our management of crises has been to elect the political class and step aside while expecting them to operate the government with honor. They have failed…miserably, and we have failed by providing minimal oversight. Crisis aversion is the best form of crisis management. Certainly not every crisis can be preempted or averted, but diligent public servants who take their oaths seriously can minimize the kinds of manufactured crises that we have experienced for much of the last century. When citizens begin to understand that most of our crises were the result of government’s incompetence, inattention or cowardice, we can begin to send people to represent us who are responsible and accountable. Managing a crisis begins with the proper manager and continues with the proper strategy to minimize the crisis before it becomes too large. As Woody Hayes often said, “You win with people.” We have been too lazy to select winners. We have elected self-serving, job-protecting place-holders who have allowed our country to slide into the abyss while we have been willfully distracted.

Time’s up. As citizens we can no longer afford to blissfully trip through life and hand the keys of control to career politicians who lack the courage and the wisdom to preserve our republic and our liberty. The new model for crisis management involves our individual and collective commitments to holding our representatives accountable….for every vote, every day. We cannot risk waiting for two- or four-year cycles to suddenly awaken and analyze the records of our “public servants.” Their jobs, their positions should be at risk from the moment they first take their oaths of office. We must avoid the risk, and we must manage our own affairs.

Comment:   cearlwriting@hotmail.com      or   www.littlestuff-minoosha.blogspot.com

Slurping and Sucking

Government inefficiency is so prevalent that it is nearly impossible to get hard numbers about the nation’s economy. Suffice it to say that the federal government’s share of the United States’ Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is somewhere between 25% and 28%. In other words, for every productive minute, hour, product or service that is generated in our country, government consumes, at a minimum, one fourth of the total. From Fortune 50 companies to corner lemonade stands the productivity of America’s people is being sucked away by an overbearing monstrosity that is growing larger every day. Not included in that obscene number is the amount of productivity and money we must place as individuals and corporations toward complying with Government’s myriad laws, rules and regulations.

Ross Perot became somewhat famous for describing that “giant sucking sound” of American jobs going to Mexico. Today that giant sucking sound is Big Brother and Nanny State draining the efforts, creativity and resources of our most productive citizens. As our energies and talents swirl down the sinkhole of government interference and barriers, our spirits are beaten, and our dreams are trashed by red tape  and bureaucratic resistance. Some might argue that government’s consumption of such a large portion of our work and our products is justified because the state (all government) provides so many benefits that our people require. The difficulty with that particular line of thinking is that the state defines what we need. Just because some legislator or government agency believes that it is a jolly idea if all citizens drove turbo-powered Huffy bicycles, it doesn’t necessarily follow that we want them.

Let’s shift for a moment from the macro view of government’s slurping our resources to a micro consideration. You rise in the morning, and before you have worked a full day or built anything of value, you begin at 25% in the hole. Put another way, you work eight hours for six…or twelve hours or the value of nine. If you produce something for the marketplace, everything will have to be priced twenty-five per cent higher in order for government to collect its cut. A somewhat hidden factor is that as government gobbles up more and more of our productivity, we must work longer and harder just to stay even. Some of our fellow citizens have decided not to participate in the race against government consumption. No, they haven’t gone Galt, but many of them have gone to the government because they claim they cannot continue to keep up with the economic pace required for people to prosper. Thus, those of us who continue to produce now have the added burden of supporting the dropouts. That sucks. If you’ve ever seen a combine harvesting grain, it provides an illustration of the government’s voracious appetite for our productivity….and there are the producers scurrying ahead of the machine, gleaning what little they can before the harvester swallows them.

In modern times the United States has had its most productive and prosperous times when the government’s share of the GDP was limited to 18% to 20%. To achieve those numbers today, government consumption will have to be reduced by 20% to 25% of its present rate of resource absorption. Try to imagine how productive, how energized we would be if government were reduced to 15% of GDP. Even better…how would our economy react to a government that confiscated a mere 10% of all the production, creativity, talent and human energy in the nation? Our economy would take off like a rocket from Cape Canaveral. Government does not produce. It consumes. Government sucks up the labor and products of the producers. Government that over burdens it’s people is immoral. Government that forces productive citizens to support chose who choose not to compete is immoral. Government that attempts to regulate and dominate the lives of its citizens by limiting their individual liberty is immoral. Government that makes outrageous claims on the time, labor and productivity of its citizens is immoral. Government that undermines the property rights of its citizens through lawmaking and rule making is immoral. Any government that seeks to limit the personal freedom, the opportunities, and creative self-expression of its people has surrendered its moral authority. A moral government serves the people. An immoral one controls them.

Comment:  cearlwriting@hotmail.com     or   www.littlestuff-minoosha.blogspot.com

Self Interest versus Entitlement

Ayn Rand and her philosophical point of view resonate with many in the liberty movement. The simplified explanation of Objectivist thought is that unfettered self-interest is the ideal motivation for each person to achieve her/his greatest potential. The underlying assumption is that if each individual is free to pursue his dreams and goals without government control or intervention, then society will benefit as the creative impulse improves the environment for all. Also, the Objectivists reject the notion of social pressure or political correctness as a determinate for directing the actions of a person who relies on self-interest as a guiding force. The “Mind your own business,” leave me alone,” and “Don’t tread on me” philosophy is the recognition that each individual possesses the ability to chart his/her own course through life.

Personally, I subscribe to the Objectivist-Christian view of our role on earth. I do believe that the pursuit of self-interest and self-fulfillment coupled with a truly charitable impulse is the optimum way to serve God and maximize my individual potential. Many confuse “self-interest” with “selfishness.” An individual or company that engages in a self-interested pursuit does not cheat, does not spread falsehoods about competitors, and in turn, does not expect favorable benefits or unfair advantages (e.g. government subsidies or insider trading). It’s nearly impossible to address all the facets of the self-interest driven life versus the selfishly motivated one, but I’ll attempt to use a sports metaphor. The self-interested person “plays within himself,” while the selfish boor continues to grab and consume beyond his capacity to do so wisely. Selfishness is greed. Self-interest is the prudent maximization of individual potential.

Those who are zealous about personal liberty sometimes encounter others who accuse them of being greedy or selfish because they want to limit the government’s control over their lives, their labor and their property. The critics fail to realize, however, that it is the interventionist entitlement mentality that most represents unrestrained greed and selfishness. The organization or individual who insists that others provide the living or lifestyle for those who do not utilize their energy or talents for their own well-being are truly the parasites of society. Greed is NOT keeping what you’ve earned, but rather keeping what someone else has labored to produce. Selfishness is NOT using your talent and property to achieve its greatest efficiency. Selfishness is the expectation that others have an obligation to provide for you that which you are unwilling to acquire for yourself.

Now we come to entitlements. By definition an entitlement is something you receive merely for being YOU. No earning, no extraordinary effort and no persistence are required for you to be the “entitled” recipient. In today’s political parlance, if someone were to complain about the high cost and wasteful nature of entitlement spending, the commentator is immediately characterized as greedy or selfish….even though the concept of entitlement represents the epitome of greed and selfishness. The progressives and their brain-dead political fellow travelers have succeeded in distorting the meanings and values of vital elements of character. Self-interest has become an undesirable trait, and entitlement carries the trappings of nobility. What is up is down. Correspondingly, in some quarters scamming the system has become an admirable endeavor, and those who play by the rules are labeled “chumps.”  

The elephant in the room in this discussion is the government…at all levels. It is government who creates entitlements, expands them and determines who receives them. It is government who unconstitutionally and contrary to natural law limits personal freedom, confiscates the product of peoples’ labor and seizes or restricts their property. It is government who continually thwarts the efforts of the self-interested citizen by regulating and limiting his activity. It is government and its toady supporters who define up as down. The self-interested producers must train, educate and inform those who will listen about the necessity for self interest. The producers must capture the reins of government, or we shall fail. If we fail, the fragile house of entitlement will collapse, and the entitlement mindset will finally achieve that to which it is entitled.

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