America really does have a government by, of, and for the people. The problems that we like so much to complain about arise not from the government as much as with the people who make the government what it is. We are not a reflection of our government; the government is a reflection of us. When we fail to uphold our end of society, laws will be written to account for that lack. Government is like cold water that seeps in to fill the void in our collective character.

Stephen Covey, author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, quotes sociologist Emil Dirkheim: "When mores are sufficient, laws are unnecessary. When mores are insufficient, laws are unenforceable."

Where are we today?

The government is not some lurking, hulking giant. It is people, like you and me, driving to work every day and trying to do a decent job, even if that means being a cookie cutter cog in a huge national bureaucracy. Most people are at least trying to be good little cogs, after all. The men and women of our congress bring ideals and vision with them to their positions. The direction of federal and local government comes from their priorities and their beliefs along with a healthy influence from their desire to be re-elected.

If the federal government has grown too large, too powerful, too misdirected, it is because we have allowed and encouraged exactly that. Would there be attempts to place restrictions on the Second Amendment of the Constitution if we weren't both killing each other left and right and also begging the government to do something about it? Would taxes be so high if we didn't scream every time some federal program was cut?

Something For Nothing, and It's Not My Fault, are the two primary reasons the government is the way it is today.

When coal miners and textile workers were treated as slave labor, working twelve hour days or longer, there was a real and desperate need to stand against the factory and mine owners. Attempting to correct this class struggle is what gave birth to communism. It also gave birth, in this country, to organized labor unions.

The mentality of the unions, and of the class struggle of communism, is Us Versus Them. It is this which causes us to look at the government as something apart from ourselves. Management versus employee, government versus citizen. We are still afflicted by the belief that those with money and power must have obtained it through the exploitation of others, and thus we are all entitled to be given compensation because of that bad behavior.

This has seeded the Something For Nothing philosophy deep into our national vision. The problems of Health Care particularly grow from this. We expect that our jobs will offer us medical coverage. Where did we ever get the crazy idea that we don't have to pay for these services? If I don't have to pay for the doctor, why do I have to pay for the dentist? If I don't have to pay for the dentist, why do I have to pay for an eye exam? If I'm getting all that for free, why can't I get veterinary coverage for my dog? Shouldn't I be able to get free manicures and massages? Why shouldn't I be reimbursed for calling the Psychic Hotline?

Of course we do pay for all these benefits in the form of decreased wages. A large percentage of a person's salary never makes it to the paycheck. It's in the form of payments to a Health Maintenance Organization so that we can all get a little Something For Nothing. We also get the added benefit of being told how and when we can see the doctor, what he can do, and how often he can do it.

If we demand Something For Nothing, the managers of the companies we work for will figure out a way to give it to us, even if all they do is give us five to ten thousand dollars less per year and take care of some of the paperwork. By pooling the money into huge company health care plans and HMOs, the balance of supply and demand is all but destroyed for the individual consumer. The wealth is pooled and shared in a system that resembles communism more than the free market. We are driven by the needs of the insurance companies who are trying to survive financially while everyone expects their guaranteed free medical care.

This did not happen because there was any natural proclivity toward socialism in this country. It happened because we demanded Something For Nothing and refused to take no for an answer.

This attitude is applied to the government as well. From business and student loans, to corporate welfare, to free school lunches, to unemployment and Medicare, we simply expect to be able to hold our hand out to the government and have it filled. It is that expectation, rather than a conscious intent of our leaders, which causes us to move all our money into the big pool of the federal budget to be redistributed. When we complain about Big Government, we should remember that we made it that way

You get what you pay for.

When someone else is deciding what to do with all the money in the big kitty, we naturally feel lost and out of control. The more the government does for us, the less we want to do for ourselves, and thus the more the government needs to do for us, and so on.

How can I be in control of my life if so much is controlled by the government, my school, my job? So often, companies demand that we be intelligent, honest, and responsible, but then treat us as children by issuing overly detailed employee manuals which regulate everything from vacation and sick time to the clothes we can wear.

When the regulations are extensive, whether in a company or a country, one doesn't have to worry about what's right. One only need follow the law. This is what Dirkheim was talking about. If it's not in you to do the right thing, no law can make you do the right thing. When we perceive the law as something outside of ourselves, apart from us, then our only incentive to follow the laws is the punishment we might have to endure if we're caught. The carrot and the stick work, but at the expense of trust and cooperation. We fall back to us versus them, cops and robbers, the haves and the have nots.

The bigger the government is, the less we feel in control of our lives, and the less we want to step up to take responsibility for our families, our neighborhoods. When a couple divorces angrily, they force a judge to decide the fate of their children. When employees take their fight outside the board room, they force lawyers and politicians to pick up the pieces of the broken negotiations. When we blame manufacturers for our injuries, we are begging the government for tighter regulations and more laws. I don't need to bother to negotiate with you; talk to my lawyer.

Nobody is responsible for anything anymore. We tend to look at a problem and then look at the government and then just hunker down and wait. This is more fearsome than anything the government might actually do.

Once we begin looking outside of ourselves for answers, there's hardly an aspect of our lives that we do not expect someone else to manage for us. It's not my problem. It's not my responsibility. It's Not My Fault.

There is a direct correlation between It's Not My Fault and Something For Nothing. Punitive lawsuits and insurance scams promise easy money while leaving us seemingly blameless. There is great incentive to abdicate our responsibility if we can blame our mistakes on someone else and get paid well for doing so. Is it any wonder that we have a culture that has so much incompetence, laziness, and irresponsibility when there are strong rewards for that behavior?

I find daytime talk shows interesting, not in the subject matter necessarily, but in the attitude often demonstrated by some of the guests. It is very clear that some of them deeply and genuinely believe that all the wrongs in their lives come from without, and that they are victims in need of compassion, assistance, and compensation. This has another related effect on us. We are much more tolerant of the carelessness and incompetence of others, as if they were unavoidable natural catastrophes which we must all endure together. It's Not Our Fault. We're only human.

Luckily, the oddities displayed on television of our amusement are not the norm of society, but they are an the effect of our society. In many ways we have become a nation of beggars, children, and co-dependents. The way out is not to start with government reform, but with self reform.

It's funny how, because of the oppression of kings, the bourgeoisie, and now Big Government, we choose with such fervor and excitement a system that can only keep us entrapped in an eternal class struggle. The thief must always have someone from which to steal. The socialist must always have the upper class to blame.

It's time to get past that.

Until we can stop begging the government to solve our problems, pay our bills, and be our conscience, we are not ready for freedom and we do not deserve liberty.

We need to stop thinking of ourselves as victims oppressed by big powerful government from which we demand justice and fairness. These are not the government's to grant. They are an intrinsic part of us. Expecting the government to grant us justice is like expecting it to grant us honor. Expecting the government or companies to grant us free money or benefits forces them to stand in a position of power over us. The giving of charity, of any form, always empowers the giver and suggests that only by the grace of the giver may the taker sustain.

It has to start with us. We must regain a soulful reverence for honor, promises, manners in all we do. Never ask for or feel entitled to charity. Give it only with an understanding of its limits. Solve your own problems. Stop asking lawyers and politicians to do your job; it only encourages them. Expect excellence from others and, especially, from yourself.

If you let the government give you a fish, you'll be fed for a day. If you teach yourself how to fish, you will be free.

Look around you. Will all this be wasted on pettiness and ignorance? What have we been doing for the past three hundred years but building the foundation for this moment in time? Where are we going? Were are we taking humanity today?. The train of history now rides on our tacks and we can do our part to lead it to whatever greatness of the human spirit is within our reach, or we can just let it plod along the easy inertia of the moment.

Let us teach our children well.

:^D