“The state/government with the power to do things for people has the power to do things to them.” -Thomas Jefferson
The government is needed to do for us that we cannot do for ourselves. Or, it can do for us that we choose not to do for ourselves, for one reason or another.
I have received services and benefits from the government that were good for me and still good. I also remember laws, and practices that did things to me that weren’t good.
Nevertheless, I respect government as a necessary institution but to trust it, I have my reservations. Don’t you?
Well…I know we are too sensitive to make or take criticism. So, I’ll just say it like this, the recent scandals and confessions of wrongdoings are signs of a moral-deficit epidemic.
We know but we rather not say or believe that the government is no better than the people who govern. We also know that everybody doesn’t have to be corrupt to cause the government to be corrupt, ineffective and expensive. Just a few immoral apples can cause rot and decay.
William Simon, former Secretary of the Treasury said that one thing he learned during his tenure in Washington is that civics book picture of government in operation is completely inaccurate. The idea that our elected officials take part in a careful discussion making process – monitoring events, reviewing options, and responsibly selecting policies has almost no connection with reality.
He also said that a more accurate image of the government would be that of a runaway train with the throttle stuck wide open – while the passengers and crew are living it up in the dining car.
How much truth do you think is in Mr. Simon’s learning?
We Americans have a flexible attitude toward the need of honest hard work. We find little or no pleasure in working long hours, making sacrifices to be independent and self-sufficient.
Listen, you can hear us talk as if to have is a right and an entitlement. We say, “Why not? This is America!”
Ben Franklin said that only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. Freedom depends upon virtue. Virtue is encouraged and cultivated by religious commitments.
Our shunning God in public places is trickling into our private places. The moral breakdown in our private places is trickling out into the public places. Why…because public life and private life are the two sides of the same coin/society.
Society in general, government included, seem to be terrified by the truth, absolute truth. Nowadays, to tell the truth can be a liability. Our words can be changed or twisted out of context and used against us. So telling the truth isn’t a cherished virtue. If possible, truth is avoided or replaced by partial truth and polite lies.
However, if we choose to minimize the importance of truth, honesty, integrity, trust and common sense, we also minimize the seriousness of our social and economical problems.
Back in 1820, the great orator, Daniel Webster warned that, “If we abide by the principles taught in the Bible, our country will go on prospering. But, if we and our posterity neglect its instructions and authority, no man can tell how sudden a catastrophe may overwhelm and bury all our glory in profound absurdity.”
Life is not an exact science but it has principles to be learned. Life demands that those principles be followed for harmonious living. Those principles don’t change with the times or a new president.
When I was a child, I thought as a child, understood as a child and spoke as a child. But, when I became an adult, I put away my childish thinking, understanding and talking.
I know now that if we citizens are to confidently evaluate the federal trillion dollar programs, we need facts that are true. If we are to draw reliable conclusions for making new laws, and policies, we need more than logic and opinions.
I know that everybody who is talking isn’t telling the truth. Everybody in office or authority isn’t honest, wise or smart.
I know that the blind can’t see the way. The inexperienced doesn’t know the way. The unlearned can’t teach the way and the immoral must not be allowed to lead the way.
Why do I have reservations about what the government will do for us and what the government can do to us?
With no prayers, no Bible, no God, we are without a source of truth. We can drown in a swamp of relativism. Without a moral compass, we can drift around in a moral vacuum somewhere between the media and the opinion polls.
What can we do? We can be our best from the inside out, do our best in sight, out of sight and in the cover of the night.
We can hold ourselves and hold our government accountable and then say our prayers. Amen.
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