I have a long-time friend whose political philosophy is somewhat left of my own. He has considerable confidence in government; I have next to none, knowing and teaching Public Choice economics, as I do.
He asked me a few days ago, after I had sent him the link to a Dan Mitchell blog article about statist political philosophy to be found (here), "Some funny ones. No compromise possible? How about half the government we have and twice the government Mitchell wants?" I wrote back saying I didn't see how compromise is possible.
It's obvious to anyone who can still fog a mirror that citizens of the United States are deeply divided. Don't blame it on Trump. Trump was a manifestation of the division, not the cause of it. The left and the right in America have a fundamental difference in values and beliefs. In my experience, compromise is not possible, nor is it desirable, because it comes from such fundamental differences in values --- differences that we sometimes call "principles." We cannot and should not compromise on principles. I told my friend that I cannot and will not. He is still my friend, nonetheless.
If I am right, where do we go from here? "Boogaloo," as it is called on some of the mind-numbing social media platforms? Is a second American Civil War inevitable?
The violent riots throughout the summer of 2020 were trivialized and mostly ignored by main stream media. That fact is dauntingly sad, and yet another story to be told. The rioting continued on January 6th in our capitol. All Americans should denounce all the riots, and most do. The rioting is also manifestation of the great divide. They give more than a glimmer of the willingness and ability of far too many people to use violence in the name of their values and beliefs, people both on the left and on the right of the great divide.
I'm a veteran, and as such, I think I know a thing or two about our military. I believe that Boogaloo, were it to begin, would end quickly and badly for its perpetrators. The enormous firepower and technology, combined with the commitment and skill of the U.S. Army and Marines would quickly quash any "militia" that had the temerity to launch full scale Boogaloo. Know that. Armed conflict is not the solution to the great divide that now separates us.
Nonetheless, we could and may see continued violent protests --- protests that local police may be both unwilling and unprepared to quash. If we do see more violence, and if the violence becomes more frequent, the Biden administration will eventually become the owner of the violence. Perhaps even the in-the-tank-left media would begin to criticize, hard as that may seem to imagine. After all, the media will have to write and speak about something other than Trump, no?
Biden speaks of unity. Preposterous. We will have no unity, and we should have none, because each side of the great divide is cleaving to its principles. I know this first hand, because the great divide lives even within my own family, I am sad to say.
Where do we go from here? I see only one, quite imperfect solution. The United States must become again what the Founders intended, and what it was in the time of the founding. The United States must become again a federation of states. We are not now a federation of states, and we have not been, at least since 1913, when the progressive Woodrow Wilson presided over the birth of both the federal income tax and the Federal Reserve. Both are institutions of thievery, and both are anathema to a true federation of states.
I will not trace here the history of the loss of federalism in the United States, for others are far better equipped to do so and have done so already. But make no mistake, federalism is long gone. The Declaration and the Constitution have not been defended and honored since at least 1913. The United States comprises now a large, intrusive, central government that seeks to become ever larger and ever more intrusive, day by day, year by year.
If we returned to the principles and structure of the founding, each state could and likely would comprise a government that suits its residents. Citizens would be free to pursue life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as free people in some states, without the ham-fisted government preferred by other states.
As it was in the time of the founding, each state legislature would decide how much money to send the federal government to support our common defense against foreign aggressors. Each state would itself take care of its own defense against domestic aggressors. Gone would be the IRS and yes, the Federal Reserve, too. Gone would be the U.S. Federal Code, that compendium of oppression and intrusion into the lives of we the people. Gone would be the Administrative State and the career politicians who have made a life of compelling others unjustly. Gone would be the democratic cronyism that is empowered by the federal government and its operatives
With true federalism, each state would decide whether to have term limits for politicians, as some do now. Through their elected representatives, each state would decide how and how much to tax. No federal income tax would exist. Decisions of such importance could and should be pushed down much closer to we the people. The founders had it right; how did we the people allow it to become otherwise? Many causes, I suppose. But as I observed in my book Morality and Capitalism, there is something in many humans that likes a king.
Is it possible to return to the principles of the Declaration and the structure of highly limited central government, a government constrained and limited to enumerated powers, as the founders intended? I do not know, but I believe that if we cannot, we are fated to continue on the road to serfdom that F.A. Hayek taught us about, now so many years ago.
If it is possible to return to true federalism, we will require a leader who believes in liberty. We do not have one now, and have not had one for many years. We will require a leader who, like Ronald Reagan, had the spirit, the character, and the charisma to lead people who yearn to be free. We will require a leader who can call out the statist people who are government operatives of the federal government, either as bureaucrats of the Administrative State, or as its elected federal representatives. We will require a leader who can do that calling out with civility and persuasion. We will require a leader whose motives none suspect, whose character all can admire, whose experience draws on a full experience of life, not just the experience of politics.
We just had an election, some say. The people have spoken. And yet, the great divide stares us in the face.
Do not call me a conspiracy theorist, for I am not. But everyone knows that at least half the voters who voted in the 2020 election believe, rightly or wrongly, that the election was deeply flawed, another manifestation of the great divide. The election served only to deepen that great divide. I believe the 2020 election was a one off; I don't think we will see its form and processes repeated, thank goodness. I hope I am not wrong.
Who can be the leader to forge a path back to the founding principles? I don't know, but my telia philia, who lives in Texas believes that such a leader will emerge from the great divide. I truly hope he is right.
