Sober Reform Of Government

There can not be much doubt that our government, especially federal but also state, needs major reform. But what kind of reform is needed? Would this include more 2000 page legislation that lawyers can haggle over endlessly, thus creating more work for themselves? Oh, I hope not, but what needs to be done to reform our government?

You know what? The government can not reform itself. We the people need to reform our government. No one else can do it. For when the government tries to reform itself, it just gets in deeper and deeper. The government trying to reform itself is like a dog chasing its tail. The faster it goes the dizzier the politicians get. And the dizzier they get the more madness/confusion we get from the government. The government passes reform which it then has to reform which it then has to reform, etc. Do you see where this ends? We finally end up spinning ourselves right into the ground.

James Madison could have told us that 235 years ago. Those gullible, unscientific, aged, old-fashioned founding fathers knew human nature. Listen to James Madison: "(The sober people) have seen, too, that legislative interference, is but the first link of a long chain of repetitions; every subsequent interference being naturally produced by the effects of the preceding. They very rightly infer, therefore, that some thorough reform is wanting which will banish speculations on public measures, inspire a general prudence and industry, and give a regular course to the business of society." (The Federalist Papers; Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay; Bantam Dell, 2003; p 273)

The legislative interference is but the first link of a long chain of repetitions. Does that sound familiar? Congress passes a law and then realizes all kinds of unsuspected consequences for which they have to pass another law to clear up which leads to all kinds of other unsuspected consequences for which they have to pass another law to clear up which leads.... You get the picture.

So James Madison states that a reform is wanting which will banish speculations on public measures. But what kind of reform? Won't this just lead to Congress chasing its tail some more? How can this cycle be broken? What kind of reform is needed?

There is only one answer: GET THE GOVERNMENT OUT OF OUR LIVES. REPEAL GOVERNMENT. Oh, not all of it, but repeal all the laws that are beyond and outside of what the Constitution requires our government do for us. What would that be?

Well, our Constitution requires our government to defend us from enemies external and internal. And internal enemies do NOT mean business enemies, competitive enemies, sports enemies, but enemies that would destroy our freedoms of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And notice it does not mean people who prevent us from being happy, but prevent us from pursuing happiness.  We may pursue happiness our whole life and never get there. So be it! The government is not commissioned to give us that happiness, but just protect our right to pursue it. And by the way, pursuit of happiness originally meant the freedom to own property, to own what we have earned by our own labor.

The Constitution also requires our government mediate between states in any disputes between them. That does not mean that the national government has the right to create a relationship between the states, but to only mediate if the states cannot agree with each other and to monitor it so that those states do not go to arms in their dispute. Nor does that mean that the national government can dictate to the states how they may do business in their own states or even between each other unless it interferes with the business of another state. And even then, the national government is to only mediate in the dispute, not dictate. The states are to find their own solution to the dispute and to use the national government in the dispute only if necessary and desired by the states.

So what do we do with the rest of the national government, all the bureaucracies, agencies, czars and every other structure the government has created. All these creations of the government has created nothing but confusion and burden.

REPEAL THEM! Sounds quite simple, doesn't it? Well, just try it. You will find a bunch of screaming, crying idiots.

Well, what do we do? Do we just go along the way we have and sink right down the toilet or do we shrink government down to survive and put up with the whining and crying? The choice is ours. It will take a horrendous amount of work. It will be a life-time job. Indeed, the reason the job has gotten so big is that we have not been paying attention to it all along. We thought our officials, elected and appointed, were taking care of business, but you know what? IT DOES NOT WORK THAT WAY. We the people are the responsible ones and if we are not paying attention why should we expect our officials to pay attention? The buck stops HERE! Not in WDC or the state capitols or the county courthouses/city halls. No, the buck stops HERE at "we the people". And if we are not taking care of business, no one else will do so. So let's get to work and let's expect to work for decades, indeed for life, because that is what it takes to manage our freedoms and protect them. God bless our efforts!