Government
If you notice the purpose of this page, it has to do with things I am interested in and that I write about. It is about religion, politics, history, culture, stamp collecting, music, and other things.
In this article I wish to discuss government. I took as many political science classes as I could in my undergraduate studies. I thought for a time about getting a Master's degree in Political Science. I have always had a great interest in this subject. I have read widely. In high school and college I was on the debate team and enjoyed political themes.
In high school and my first year of college I read a lot about communism. I was fascinated with it. Not because I wanted to be a communist but because of the tremendous power of communism in the world. The Soviet Union was in its full bloom in the 1960s. China was a total communist state and communism was growing all over Asia. We were at war in Viet Nam to stop the spread of communism . Of course, there was Cuba and it was all Communist and it was big news in the 60's.
First, let us consider freedom. There is individual freedom, political freedom, economic freedom, and national freedom. By individual freedom I mean the freedom to go here and there, and basically make your own decisions about your life. You will have freedom to decide where to live, where to work, where to go to school, religion and such. By political freedom, I mean the freedom to choose who will lead you in government. Who will be the local mayor and governors and senators, etc. Even who would be the President. The people have the freedom and the power to make choices and put men and women in power and remove them. By economic freedom, I mean the freedom to make financial choices. This would involve labor unions, choices as to what you buy and not buy and where, the right to go into business and make a profit for yourself, to buy and sell a business, and to dream any dream and seek to make it a reality economically. The right to own property and control its use. By national freedom, I mean the freedom to exist as a nation and to have boarders defended and recognized. To be free from the power and control of other nations. Even nations with bad governments often unite when national freedom is at stake. When a foreign power seeks to overrun them, that nation will united to defend itself.
2nd, let us consider the various government models.
Communism is a style of government based on the theories of Karl Marx. All property is publicly owned. The property is suppose to be equally shared among all the people. However, that has never happened and I mean, NEVER. What happens is that only those of the Communist party end up with the privileges and benefits. Corruption is rampant and far reaching. Those who take power do so by hook and crook and sometimes even murder. Great secrecy clouds everything. In Communism there is limited individual freedom, no political freedom , and no economic freedom. The Soviet Union went bankrupt following this model. China was near bankruptcy when with the help of the United States it switched to a free enterprise/capitalistic economic system which is thriving today. Half of all you see in Wal Mart is from China. China is prospering so well in fact, that it is loaning the United States money as it slowly moves form the free enterprise/capitalistic economic system to a more socialistic system.
Socialism is another government model. It is a model whereby the government controls the economy. In this model the people may have political freedom to elect their leaders. However, the government will monitor and control all economic life of the people and will even own and operate all major industries and businesses. They do so as they say, "for the common good". The system is fraught with massive national debt and borrowing and all profit incentive is destroyed. With people having no say in their economic freedoms or at least having less and less a say, incentive to work hard and dream big is destroyed. The system of absolute socialism has never worked and leads to a loss of political, economic, and individual freedom. Great Britain moved to such a socialist system and faced huge deficits, massive unemployment, huge government welfare programs and enormous taxation and thus an economy with no growth whatsoever. Margaret Thatcher with great pain moved the nation back to a free enterprise/capitalistic economic system. By so doing unemployment declined, welfare roles decreased, and national debt was lowered.
A democracy/republican form of government with free enterprise/capitalism is another form of government. This has been the hallmark of the United States. We are not a pure democracy but a democracy with a character of a republic. We elect people to represent us and make decisions for us. In this model there is full individual freedom, economic freedom, political freedom, and national freedom. Greed and corruption is a constant worry of this system. However, in this system citizens are free to succeed or fail based on their ability and talents. Critics of this form of government talk of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. However, their solution is high taxes and a forced transfer of wealth due to the success of some, to others in society with little or no ability to succeed. Thus, decreasing private wealth of some and in the long run doing no lasting good to help the poor. A true conflict to say the least. This creates class warfare and a culture of entitlement that will never work in the long run and leads to national bankruptcy and loss of of economic freedoms for all and the danger of the loss of political and individual freedoms as well.
Here is what Ben Franklin said, "I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion of the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it. In my youth I traveled much, and I observed in different countries, that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer. And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer. "
Of course, all would agree that we as a nation of wealth should aid and assist those unable to provide food and care for themselves. Churches and charitable organizations can do much and government can assist as needed. But, if you take government too far down this path of social welfare, history proves it always ends in national destruction.
There are other forms of government such as a monarchy, dictatorship and to some level a mixture of various forms perhaps.
Here is what we know. With no economic freedom you will have a dictatorship. With no economic freedom you will lose personal freedom, political freedom, and eventually national freedom. Europe today is calling the shots for economic policy in Greece.
Here are some final conclusions.
1. A free enterprise system is the best. All of history proves this. It has its problems. It is not perfect. No economic system is perfect. However, when people have an incentive to make a profit by working hard and investing, owning their own business, and dreaming their own dreams, it produces a more prosperous nation. Remove that incentive and you will destroy the economy and in time and loose all freedoms. High taxation will destroy incentive and lead to more welfare roles and huge national deficits that will in the end lead to a loss of freedoms. Abuses in this system can be regulated through laws and regulatory agencies.
2. History proves that the pure communistic system and socialistic system will not work. They bankrupt a nation and strip its citizens of its freedoms. It may sound good on paper and the theory sounds so gracious but in reality it will not work and will undermine all of society and destroy the nation. China only survived by making a deal with its people. We the government will keep political power and in return we give you the people economic freedom. I believe in time the government will lose its control over the people. With economic freedom the people will demand more freedoms. The Chinese government is walking a very delicate tight rope.
Today, America, after achieving so much is moving with ever increasing speed towards the failed systems of socialism. History proves it is a very dangerous road we are traveling.
If we as a a nation wish to preserve our national, individual, and political freedoms, then we must preserve our economic freedoms. No system is perfect, but history proves the free enterprise/capitalistic system is the best that humans can devise. Not all citizens will become rich in this system, nor in any other system as well. But, all will have the "right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness".
If you notice the purpose of this page, it has to do with things I am interested in and that I write about. It is about religion, politics, history, culture, stamp collecting, music, and other things.
In this article I wish to discuss government. I took as many political science classes as I could in my undergraduate studies. I thought for a time about getting a Master's degree in Political Science. I have always had a great interest in this subject. I have read widely. In high school and college I was on the debate team and enjoyed political themes.
In high school and my first year of college I read a lot about communism. I was fascinated with it. Not because I wanted to be a communist but because of the tremendous power of communism in the world. The Soviet Union was in its full bloom in the 1960s. China was a total communist state and communism was growing all over Asia. We were at war in Viet Nam to stop the spread of communism . Of course, there was Cuba and it was all Communist and it was big news in the 60's.
First, let us consider freedom. There is individual freedom, political freedom, economic freedom, and national freedom. By individual freedom I mean the freedom to go here and there, and basically make your own decisions about your life. You will have freedom to decide where to live, where to work, where to go to school, religion and such. By political freedom, I mean the freedom to choose who will lead you in government. Who will be the local mayor and governors and senators, etc. Even who would be the President. The people have the freedom and the power to make choices and put men and women in power and remove them. By economic freedom, I mean the freedom to make financial choices. This would involve labor unions, choices as to what you buy and not buy and where, the right to go into business and make a profit for yourself, to buy and sell a business, and to dream any dream and seek to make it a reality economically. The right to own property and control its use. By national freedom, I mean the freedom to exist as a nation and to have boarders defended and recognized. To be free from the power and control of other nations. Even nations with bad governments often unite when national freedom is at stake. When a foreign power seeks to overrun them, that nation will united to defend itself.
2nd, let us consider the various government models.
Communism is a style of government based on the theories of Karl Marx. All property is publicly owned. The property is suppose to be equally shared among all the people. However, that has never happened and I mean, NEVER. What happens is that only those of the Communist party end up with the privileges and benefits. Corruption is rampant and far reaching. Those who take power do so by hook and crook and sometimes even murder. Great secrecy clouds everything. In Communism there is limited individual freedom, no political freedom , and no economic freedom. The Soviet Union went bankrupt following this model. China was near bankruptcy when with the help of the United States it switched to a free enterprise/capitalistic economic system which is thriving today. Half of all you see in Wal Mart is from China. China is prospering so well in fact, that it is loaning the United States money as it slowly moves form the free enterprise/capitalistic economic system to a more socialistic system.
Socialism is another government model. It is a model whereby the government controls the economy. In this model the people may have political freedom to elect their leaders. However, the government will monitor and control all economic life of the people and will even own and operate all major industries and businesses. They do so as they say, "for the common good". The system is fraught with massive national debt and borrowing and all profit incentive is destroyed. With people having no say in their economic freedoms or at least having less and less a say, incentive to work hard and dream big is destroyed. The system of absolute socialism has never worked and leads to a loss of political, economic, and individual freedom. Great Britain moved to such a socialist system and faced huge deficits, massive unemployment, huge government welfare programs and enormous taxation and thus an economy with no growth whatsoever. Margaret Thatcher with great pain moved the nation back to a free enterprise/capitalistic economic system. By so doing unemployment declined, welfare roles decreased, and national debt was lowered.
A democracy/republican form of government with free enterprise/capitalism is another form of government. This has been the hallmark of the United States. We are not a pure democracy but a democracy with a character of a republic. We elect people to represent us and make decisions for us. In this model there is full individual freedom, economic freedom, political freedom, and national freedom. Greed and corruption is a constant worry of this system. However, in this system citizens are free to succeed or fail based on their ability and talents. Critics of this form of government talk of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. However, their solution is high taxes and a forced transfer of wealth due to the success of some, to others in society with little or no ability to succeed. Thus, decreasing private wealth of some and in the long run doing no lasting good to help the poor. A true conflict to say the least. This creates class warfare and a culture of entitlement that will never work in the long run and leads to national bankruptcy and loss of of economic freedoms for all and the danger of the loss of political and individual freedoms as well.
Here is what Ben Franklin said, "I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion of the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it. In my youth I traveled much, and I observed in different countries, that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer. And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer. "
Of course, all would agree that we as a nation of wealth should aid and assist those unable to provide food and care for themselves. Churches and charitable organizations can do much and government can assist as needed. But, if you take government too far down this path of social welfare, history proves it always ends in national destruction.
There are other forms of government such as a monarchy, dictatorship and to some level a mixture of various forms perhaps.
Here is what we know. With no economic freedom you will have a dictatorship. With no economic freedom you will lose personal freedom, political freedom, and eventually national freedom. Europe today is calling the shots for economic policy in Greece.
Here are some final conclusions.
1. A free enterprise system is the best. All of history proves this. It has its problems. It is not perfect. No economic system is perfect. However, when people have an incentive to make a profit by working hard and investing, owning their own business, and dreaming their own dreams, it produces a more prosperous nation. Remove that incentive and you will destroy the economy and in time and loose all freedoms. High taxation will destroy incentive and lead to more welfare roles and huge national deficits that will in the end lead to a loss of freedoms. Abuses in this system can be regulated through laws and regulatory agencies.
2. History proves that the pure communistic system and socialistic system will not work. They bankrupt a nation and strip its citizens of its freedoms. It may sound good on paper and the theory sounds so gracious but in reality it will not work and will undermine all of society and destroy the nation. China only survived by making a deal with its people. We the government will keep political power and in return we give you the people economic freedom. I believe in time the government will lose its control over the people. With economic freedom the people will demand more freedoms. The Chinese government is walking a very delicate tight rope.
Today, America, after achieving so much is moving with ever increasing speed towards the failed systems of socialism. History proves it is a very dangerous road we are traveling.
If we as a a nation wish to preserve our national, individual, and political freedoms, then we must preserve our economic freedoms. No system is perfect, but history proves the free enterprise/capitalistic system is the best that humans can devise. Not all citizens will become rich in this system, nor in any other system as well. But, all will have the "right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness".
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