This was originally written and posted in November 2013; it was updated and republished in October 2019; and now updated again and republished in March 2024.
Listening to, reading, or watching the news these days is a frightening, stressful, and ever-exhausting exercise. The America I knew growing up seems almost a place I see only in my quickly vanishing rear-view memory as the country plunges into chaos and eventual oblivion. Being positive about the future becomes an ever more difficult endeavor. If I only had to think about myself and my wife that would be one thing, but as a father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, I’m more concerned these days about the sort of country my children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren inherit. What legacy are we leaving for them. Will they inherit the greatness of America I once knew or a place of misery? I no longer am optimistic at all!
The outcome of the 2020 Presidential election resulted in many changes in America. It is obvious that we no longer follow a path where economic improvement and liberty continue, but now we will follow a different road–the progressive/socialist/communist road to an economic and loss of liberty nightmare. We see policies harmful to the economy, huge growth in government, higher taxation, huge increases in federal spending on worthless and dangerous Green programs, health services, education, and on programs which increase reliance on government. We see an open Southern border allowing millions of uneducated and non-skilled individuals, criminals, terrorists, and who knows what others into the country. This alone will change the country which is probably the real reason for the open border. The result desired is probably one-party rule through extending voting rights to these illegals. All these changes will harm the country, probably beyond repair.
How long can the forces clamoring for more government and spending on programs be held at bay? Recent polls suggest more support for socialism. Are those accurate? Probably. That will be deadly to freedom as it has been throughout history.
We hear a lot about democracy these days on the news. Most newscasters on the air seem oblivious to history and facts and seem ignorant America is not a democracy, or they simply want to hide the fact. America was founded as, and still remains, a Constitutional Republic, even though the pillars of the constitutional republic are constantly being assaulted and undermined. Thankfully, our founders feared democracy and avoided it. The story is often told that as Benjamin Franklin was walking out of Independence Hall after the Constitutional Convention in 1787, someone shouted out, “Doctor, what have we got? A republic or a monarchy?” To which Franklin supposedly responded: “A republic, if you can keep it.” And that reply resonates to this day. “If you can keep it!” Today, it appears unlikely. Our peril worsens with each new Congressional session. As Mark Twain supposedly once said, “No man’s life, liberty, or property are safe while the Congress is in session.”
Many of us over the years have received emails regarding the rise to decline steps a democracy goes through: Bondage to spiritual faith, Spiritual faith to great courage, Great courage to liberty, Liberty to abundance, Abundance to complacency, Complacency to apathy, Apathy to dependence, and Dependence back to bondage. I have no desire to quibble over whether there are eight steps or whether there are more, fewer, or even none. Absent a conquering army, all civilizations, societies, cultures, and governments certainly pass through some process of decline from birth to death. A cursory look at our own country leads me to believe that we are in decline, probably sharp decline, but at which step we find ourselves might depend on who makes the determination. How long it might take for the decline to lead to death is anyone’s guess.
In America today, we see moral and cultural decay in business, in personal interactions, and in government. We witness widespread anti-Semitism and attacks on Jews and synagogues, not unlike those in Nazi Germany. We see a decline in church attendance and a belief in God. Moreover, we see obvious discrimination and criticism of religion. We see tremendous growth in government, federal spending, and political careerism, all of which at some point eventually lead to the inevitable loss of individual liberty. Our founders said the form of government they left us was intended for an educated and religious populace. As education and religion has eroded in our country, we see the result—the growth in government power far beyond constitutional limits and the loss of individual freedom. We see America’s largest cities under constant siege, constant protests, rioting, looting, attacks on law enforcement, and the burning and destruction of public and private property. We see open looting of stores, and lawlessness without an effort to enforce laws. Further, we note the number of millionaires in Congress. How does one become a millionaire on a yearly salary of $173,000. Harry Truman once said, “Show me a man that gets rich by being a politician, and I’ll show you a crook. Truman should know.
A prophetic statement made by Francisco D’Anconia, a character in Ayn Rand’s novel Atlas Shrugged, published on October 10, 1957, seems to paint a clear and unpleasant portrait of today’s America: “When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion—when you see that in order to produce you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing—when you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors—when you see men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don’t protect you against them, but protect them against you—when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice,–you may know that your society is doomed.”
In recent years, I have seen a frightening trend by those who are President, the growth in issuing Executive Orders. Granted, some Executive orders are needed to correct wrongs which Congress has failed to address. Executive Orders issued by Presidents have the full force of law. They may be struck down by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional, but someone must have “standing” to bring a lawsuit before the Supreme Court. Congress may pass a bill to cancel the order, but should the President veto that cancellation bill, Congress must override the veto with a 2/3 majority vote. Overriding a veto is difficult, explaining why Executive Orders are seldom countermanded. Thus, I think, Executive Orders have the potential to become government by edict in the hands of immoral or unethical individuals. Our country seems overpopulated with those types today.
I have always been bewildered by the failure of so many to see that which I think obvious—the expansion of government always encroaches upon individual freedom. History is replete with examples of the danger government poses to individual freedom. Granted, today there are still some constitutional and legislative restraints on government power and reach, but I’m skeptical those barriers will withstand the constant bombardment of government growth given our history over the last few years. The gradual growth of government can be as dangerous to freedom in the long run as the sudden coup d’etat. Government growth, unfortunately, has not been gradual these last few years. Whether one arrives at unrestrained government via gradualism or overnight by force, freedom suffers or disappears, and individual freedom drowns in the government tidal wave.
Americans seem to think they are immune to an all-powerful, totalitarian type government, but they are certainly not. We forget Hitler did not come to power through a coup d’etat. Hitler was offered the chancellery on January 30, 1933 by von Papen and Hindenburg who could not form a government. Elections were held in March 1933, but the Nazi Party failed to win a majority of seats in the Reichstag (parliament), however, their coalition won a majority of the seats. The Nazis forced through an enabling act giving power to Hitler’s government. When the Social Democrat Party was banned in May 1933, Hitler managed to gain complete control of the government. Thus, Hitler was able to unleash devastating horrors upon the world. As Edmund Burke said, “Those who do not know history are destined to repeat it.
A story which has floated the internet many times vividly describes government power gradualism. I have no information regarding the story’s origin or even if the story is a true one, but both matter little because the message is an accurate one. The story is called, “Catching Pigs.”
One day while in the lab, a college chemistry professor noticed a young man, an exchange student, who kept rubbing his back and stretching. The professor asked if his back hurt. The student told him he had a bullet lodged in his back; he had been shot while fighting those in his native country who were attempting to overthow his country’s government and install a communist regime. He then looked at the professor and asked a strange question, “Do you know how to catch wild pigs?”
The professor thought it a joke and asked for the punch line. The young man said it was no joke. “You catch wild pigs by finding a suitable place in the woods and spreading corn on the ground. The pigs find it and begin to come every day to feed on the free corn. Once the pigs are used to coming every day, you put a fence down one side of the place. When they get used to the fence, they begin to eat the corn again, and you put up another side of the fence. They get used to that and start to eat again. You continue until you have all four sides of the fence up with a gate in the last side. The pigs, which are used to the free corn, start to come through the gate to eat again. You then slam the gate shut. Suddenly, the wild pigs have lost their freedom. They run around inside the fence, but they are caught. Soon they go back to eating the free corn. They are used to the free corn and have forgotten how to forage in the woods for themselves, so they accept their captivity.” The young man then told the professor that is exactly what he sees happening in America. The government keeps growing and keeps spreading the free corn out in the form of programs, and we continually lose our freedom, just a little at a time. BUT there is a tipping point. There is a point WHEN THE GATE SLAMS SHUT!
We should always remember Edmund Burke’s statement: “All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.”
Copyright 2024 by Don Emerson. All rights reserved.
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