Leadership to Freedom

This might be one of the most important questions you can ask about a problem.

Do you ever feel that the government is ruining your country with its partisanship and inaction? Don’t you wish they would just stop all the bickering and come together to pass the laws, instead of always in a stalemate and getting salaries for accomplishing nothing?

I would say ‘yes’ to that in some situations, while in others I’m grateful they are arguing with each other and, as would seem to the average individual, accomplishing nothing. In most cases accomplishing nothing is actually a great accomplishment in the end.

The thing is, how can you be sure that when the government does come together, that they are actually accomplishing something good?

I believe in equality. I believe in equal rights and equal opportunity; this means that I don’t believe in complete equality. Everyone should have an equal opportunity to succeed, but also an equal opportunity to fail. The moment the idea of ‘equal results’ or ‘equal standard of living’ comes in, you are forfeiting the part about equal opportunity.

It isn’t right that very few individuals have so much power, and that they can (and do) use it to the detriment of others.

If the government creates laws or regulations that give big businesses an advantage over others, it’s not fair to those others. What gives them the right to special privileges? What’s important is that we look at this both ways; it’s unfair for someone who is unwilling to work as hard or as smart as someone else in produce something of value, to have the government pass laws to give them something at the expense of those big businesses that became big by producing something of value based on consumers wants and needs. They are not all unethical and immoral, and the good ones shouldn’t be punished for the wrong doings of a few others. What’s needed is for that power, that ability to achieve something unfairly, to be taken away.

The problem is that when the government does come together to get something done, it is often something not good for the average individual. In most cases it is usually to do something for someone, or some group, at the expense of another.

The best governments are those that disagree the most, as these are almost natural checks and balances on itself; stopping it from doing something bad. The government should not be doing something unless it is for the common good; that means good for everybody. if there are elected officials that are stopping something from being passed, there is a good chance the law in question is harming someone. This means there are checks in place where things will have a higher chance of only getting passed if it’s in everyone’s best interest. If one party or group is stopping something from getting through, it’s probably not in everyone’s best interest, but only in the interest of the friends of whomever is supporting the bill.

Yes, there are times when something good is being stopped because it would stop a special group from keeping an unfair advantage. The only way to put a stop to that is to make sure our officials know that we are paying attention to what they do, and that they risk getting voted out of office. In fact, that is precisely why we need a LeaderShift in our countries, and more people understanding the concept of freedom.

Due to the five laws of decline, you can’t trust the government to do the right thing without having the appropriate checks and balances in place. Because it is highly unlikely the government will do the right thing, I find their internal battles gives them less opportunity to harm us.

Canada is a good example of how many people don’t like a united government. The Conservative part won a majority in the last election, and pass virtually anything it wants to.  Most people wish their party of preference had more seats just to able to stop the conservatives from passing many of the bills that got through. The last poll I remember seeing had the Conservative party at around 31% support. That means there are a majority of people who don’t want them doing what they have been.

Of course, a portion of this majority probably believes a majority would be good if their party was in power, but everyone else would still have the same problem that those people have now.

I love a minority government, because without a check on the 5 laws of decline in place, it is the best check on those in power that is available to us.

Many times when the government does come together on something, it is bad for the common citizen. It is always done with good intentions (at least it sounds good at the time when you don’t think about future ramifications).  Here are a couple good examples I got from the book ‘Uncommon Sense’ by Stephen D. Palmer (which gave me the motivation to write this piece)

• The 16th and 17th Amendments and the Federal Reserve Act, and, as a result, the Great Depression.
• The Iraqi War, which at the time of this writing this is costing us $12 billion per month and is now the second longest war in our history, as well as the second most costly (surpassed only by World War II).
• The $5.3 trillion bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

When the Government can’t agree, and thus can’t get anything done, I usually have just one thought…

Awesome.

Here’s a nice funny tribute to unfair business practices out there, all acting like Calvin. Enjoy!