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The Gaffer's Philosophy;
Part 2, An Outline:
February 11, 2002
I have already stated the goal of this series in my introduction
which is to present my own political and social philosophy. Now
I want to outline my procedure to the extent that I know it. First
and foremost, the United States is what I understand to be a representative
democracy. So, to begin this work, I will write a short discussion
of what democracy means to me, including some criticism of our
current practices.
As I indicated in my introduction, the basic reason for these essays is that I believe the United States has wandered way off of the track as far as government and responsibilities are concerned. To support that I will undertake a historical review to see how we started out. I want to see what our founding fathers actually said and did. This is not what I think they meant or what I think they felt. Just the facts, please.
On that point, let me digress for a few words. This week Mrs. Gaffer and I were watching a documentary about Mark Twain on PBS. In general, it was well done and we enjoyed it. There was just one very annoying thing about it. They had a panel of commentators and too often they would pause on one of Twain's more poignant points and digress. The digression was always of the form of, what Twain meant or what Twain felt about this is ... All I could comment was, how dare these hacks interpret Twain for me. It was as though they had decided, in advance, that I was too dumb to get it. Twain's work is powerful and great. It can stand as it is. It needs no help or explanation from anyone.
So, here is the point. I, or no one else has any right to say what Twain or our founding fathers meant by what they said. Nor do we have any right to say what they intended to do, or how they felt about what they said and did. For our founders I must, and I will, assume that they meant exactly what they said and they did exactly what they meant to do. Anything less would be a serious disservice to some great men. I will not put words in their mouths or credit them with anything except the factual evidence. In doing that, I hope to get a handle on where we have diverged from our initial goals.
I want to examine the key events and principles which built the American government. Of course, many of these will have their roots in English and European traditions. William is currently writing about those concepts in his series, The Evolution of Democracy. I will leave that to him. I want to look more specifically at the formation of our own government; not how democracy evolved but how it bloomed here. For that, I will look at some of the key documents of our beginnings including the Federalist Papers. I want to see how we came to where we are.
I also want to define the levels of responsibility as I see them. I want to notice where we are doing things at too high or too low a level. I want to understand how and why it came about. Only after that, can I look at how we can recover. In that, I will take up, one by one, the specific issues which face us. As I said, I must separate the major issues from the fringe and imaginary issues. Some are important to only a handful of people with vested interests. These are almost always misrepresented as central issues. The louder the noise, the less likely it is to be a central issue.
Each issue must be addressed from the standpoint of each of the four levels of responsibility. In assigning responsibility, we begin with the citizen and the home. We transfer upward, only those things which cannot be efficiently performed or coordinated by the citizens or by the family. The only way we can arrive at the proper responsibility and functions of government is to transfer upward to the level of competent execution.
We are currently doing that wrong. In our current system, power accumulates at the top and is trickled downward. In this model, the least efficient government ends up with the most responsibility, the most power, and the lions share of the funds. The people end up with practically no power over most of the important aspect of their lives.
At this time, I believe that most of our wandering off of the track is caused by personal selfishness and short sighted governments. We have politicians who encourage personal selfishness, then exploit it for power and gain. Also we follow no comprehensive philosophy because we have none. What our founding fathers gave us has been lost. We have become a very selfish, egocentric people, to our own detriment. I think it is past time for a new attitude. We need to recover our integrity. We need, in fact, a philosophy of shared responsibility and service.
Now, in no particular order, here are some of the issues to
be addressed. I'm sure more will occur as I proceed. Before I
address these, I will attempt to group them logically.
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Energy Election reform Education Religion Police Draft and service Transportation Highway safety Foreign Policy Military Readiness Court System Justice Delayed Cost of Justice Uniform Laws Prison Reform Technology Internet |
Communications Women's Rights Minority Rights Right to Life Right to Death Abortion Taxes Social Security Health Care Postal Service The Arts Cuba Military and War Defining Treason Terrorism Research |
Land Mines Human Rights School Vouchers School Testing Taxation and Funding Guns NRA Equal Employment Equal Opportunity Sports and Education Commerce Communication media Psychopathic kids Unions OilCrime Drug Trade Capitol Punishment Gambling |
First: The further removed from the people a government is, the less sensitive it will be to the needs of the people. This needs no elaboration.
Second: The further removed from the people a government is, the less it will return in goods and services for revenues collected. Bureaucracies cost money.
Third: Responsibility must be passed upward. No issue must pass above the level where it can be effectively resolved.
Fourth: The people really want to serve their country, they need real leadership.
Fifth: All else being equal, people will choose to do right.
Sixth: A people's social and political philosophy must be based in mutual respect.
Seventh: All laws which govern a commonwealth must equally favor all citizens.
Eighth: A sound social and political philosophy must spring from idealism.
On this premise, let me digress a bit. I will repeat myself on this several times in the coming weeks. A social and political philosophy must spring from idealism. Don't explain to me what people usually do. Don't bother telling me what people normally are. I am not interested in commonplace mediocrity.
I am talking about what we could be and what we should be. I am talking about the task that the divinity set us. Whether you call her God, Allah, or The Great Spirit, she did not say go out and just get by; be mediocre. The task we were set in the beginning was to become fully conscious human beings. Our immediate task is to create a culture which supports that goal. That will be a culture of mutual respect, responsibility, and service.
Our American system of democracy cannot be about rights. Rights come out of accepting responsibility. Our system should be about responsibility and service. It is not now, but, at one time, it was. First we accept responsibility. Then we earn rights. Rights derive from responsibility. It is not the other way around. Without responsibility, there are no rights. Without service there is no culture. I think we are seeing the effects of these facts now. Our culture is disintegrating.
In my next essay, I will discuss what democracy means to me.
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