On Jan 5, 2010, at 10:21 AM, Linda Herd wrote:
Eric,
I laughed but agree with you. I'm serious. If we can spend trillions
on Iraq and whomever else pops up, we could surely try to totally
eliminate lobbying. Of all our causes, that seems to be one of the
most worthy. That is how our government works. And in this country
there is a real threat from the "Lords". The cost of living should
go down, and this should bring some responsibility back to our law
makers. Do you think this is more on the impossible side of causes
(or the possible with lots of work side). I always enjoy your
emails. But do not let the compliment change your answer as I really
know it will not. Thanks,
All of our causes are on the impossible side. There have been many
groups of people throughout history who tried to keep their
governments from going off of the cliff. There were probably people
exactly like us meeting in temples, pubs, and parlors of Rome,
Cesarae, Phillipi, Londinium, etc., trying to figure out how to arrest
the collapse of the Roman Empire. Even the Emperor Hadrian made a real
stab at turning things around. We know what happened there. It is
perhaps cold comfort to know that the proud and rich suffered, in the
end probably as much as the humble.
Sometimes people DO succeed or succeed at least for a time. We can
never real 'solve' any problem. The next generation has to have its
chance to sink or swim just like we did. There were people in the late
Roman Republic who acted to give that government years or decades of
leased life. People like Trajan, Hadrian, Narcissus extended the life
of the Empire for a while. I think it highly unlikely that we will
ever see a pure vision of what the US system should look like any more
than the Romans were ever able to "restore" their Republic. This pure
vision of the US never really existed even in 1789 and will likely
never be seen in any period of history to come. But we can improve
this system, maybe keep it back from the brink for a generation or two
until the next crisis (which will not be ours to deal with or worry
about). Pork, corruption, nepotism, greed, empire building will always
come creeping back in no matter how thoroughly we kick it out. We can
only do the best we can with the time we are given and try to give the
next generation a level playing field for their own drama, their own
choices. Perhaps a miracle will occur and we will have a 'golden age'
for a time, but I do not bank on it.
But the lobbying problem really is deeply tied in with everything
else. It is not a disease but just a symptom of the fact that
government's power has run unchecked. This abuse of power: the passage
of 'laws' which are utterly unauthorized and in many cases clearly and
directly forbidden by our Constitution, CREATES the lobbying problem.
Without those abuses, there would be nothing to lobby FOR. So, yes, I
think, if we can do anything at all, we will be able to do serious
damage to the DC chow line. But the action will have to come from the
several states saying 'enough'. There is no way to use DC to reform
DC. It is like asking a pig to become a duck through positive
thinking. Shoot the pig; buy a duck. Once the states tie up the power
of DC in endless court challenges (and/or nullification), we wait a
cycle or two to get the idiots currently up there out, and then IMPOSE
reform on DC as a condition of its being allowed to continue under the
power WE have delegated to it. Then we use DC as a tool to IMPOSE
reform on the few states whose governments may be an irretrievable
mess and which will collapse into disorder when the buffet is cut off.
The Constitution works both ways: the states delegate power to the
Feds (and therefore the power is really theirs in the first place),
but the states also agree to a compact that they will look out for
each other and not abuse their own people (Article IV and 14th
Amendment "Privileges and Immunities" clauses).
With a lever and some place to stand, you can move mountains, but you
also need somewhere to balance the lever (the fulcrum). One level of
government cannot be the fulcrum to engineer its own reform. You have
to play off one level or branch of government against the other. That
is, in fact, what 'balance of power' means and exactly how our
government was designed to function. It would be nice, however, if our
government had come with a 'Haynes Manual' and a number to order a
rebuild kit...
We are not without hope. No, we do not have very MUCH hope, but it is
the only game in town. Most of what we try to do to reform the current
system are the same steps we would need to build a new one from the
ashes. As a Christian, I believe that at some point things will get
irretrievably bad, but I never know whether this time is that time or
not. In the end, we are not given to prevent The End. But even if I
knew that things were now utterly lost, I do not think I could excuse
myself from TRYING. What more (or less) can we do other than live the
best life that we know?
Sincerely,
Eric Vought
"Faith does not absolve us from trying to understand our world and
make moral distinctions with the eyes and brain given us. Religion is
as much responsibility as direction: Duty not Distinction."
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