The Decay of Society: Power Hungry, Dumb Governments

Government: “From the Greek Κυβερνήτης kubernites - steersman, governor, pilot, or rudder—is an organization that has the power to make and enforce laws for a certain territory. There are several definitions on what exactly constitutes a government. In its broadest sense, "govern" means the power to administrate, whether over an area of land, a set group of people, or an association.” What happens when the administrators of a group of people stop acting the way that they should and, instead, start acting in such a way that it is a broken entity?

Take America’s neighbor to the south: Mexico. With restrictive socialist elements in its government, it cannot produce enough jobs. The result: A phenomenon known as labor dumping. Since it ranks so low at being able to employ its own potential workforce, the people must venture elsewhere to find gainful employ—even if it is illegal for them to do so in the country that they escape to work in, their actions sanctioned by their own homeland. Estimates of how many Mexicans are working in the U.S. range from 15 percent to 30 percent of Mexico’s labor force. The amount that they sent home in 2006 was $23 billion. Money sent to Latin America from workers in the United States is speculated to be as high as a record $45 billion this year. This same sort of story can be found in other parts of the world, too: President Sarkozy of France doesn’t want Turkey to enter the European Union, in part, due to fears that Turkey will do much the same thing to Europe as Mexico is doing to the U.S. A similar situation happened in Yugoslavia under Marshal Josef Tito in 1948.

While the governments of Mexico and the rest of Latin America are to blame for their ineptitude in running their governments in such a not-so-free market, socialist manner, the government of the United States also is to blame for their much botched handling of the situation. Instead of enforcing immigration laws on the books, it seems that most politicians look at the situation as one of more tax revenues for the government. Politicians love taxes. Seeing the opportunity to increase the amount of spendable bucks in their treasury, it seems that Washington, D.C., and many state and local governments have started waging a war on the laws that exist and have tried passing new laws to “reform” the situation of illegal aliens and immigrants coming into the country.

This isn’t where the United States government ends with its stupidity. They are in the business of punishing behaviors with taxation in its various forms. Virginia will fine you from $750 to $3000 for excessive speeding and other driving offenses. If you live in a high tax state or have too many children, you’re punished with the monstrosity known as the Alternative Minimum Tax. Live in Boulder, CO, and like to “warm the planet?” Try the “Climate Action Plan Tax” on for size.

Don’t get me wrong: I’m all for immigration: Legal immigration. The type of immigration that has forged nations since the formation of nation-states: One where people come, adding their culture to the melting pot, but assimilating themselves into the culture of the whole. What we face today is a double-culture wherein when someone calls many automated phone lines, I must press “1” for English to be spoken. Se hablas Espanol is a feature that many businesses in the southwest United States advertise. The tension created by this entire fiasco has created a polarizing tension amongst the people in the United States: Ask 10 people about their stance on the immigration debate and I’m willing to bet pie that at least 8 of them—if not more—are going to stand on one side of the argument or the other with very few, if any, being somewhere in the middle and apathetic of the situation. Heck, I even recall a situation recently at the local college where a Spanish class was told on their first day that they needed to request permission to speak English in the class—a common tactic of many foreign language classes. One kid stood up and went ballistic about needing to ask permission to speak his language in his country.

What else is wrong with governments? Let’s take a last look at the United States government. How about a Congress that is apt to pay itself more while dodging its (constitutional) responsibilities by creating new federal agencies and delegating an increasing amount of authority to make rules and laws to them, instead of doing it themselves? In 2006 Congress passed 321 bills into law. How about federal agencies? They issued 3,718 rules. All of this with “regulatory costs—“that is costs associated with operating this alphabet soup of agencies on a daily basis—of $1.142 trillion, or 9 percent of the United States’ GDP. That all compares with estimated 2006 personal income taxes of $1.044 trillion and corporate income taxes of $354 billion.

What is the solution to this set of quandaries? Government needs to enforce the laws that are already in place. They need to get this message by congressional constituencies—i.e., you—contacting them and letting them know your sentiments. The general rule of thumb goes that if just one person of who the congressperson represents contacts them, then they are representing at least 10 people: Just think what 100 or 1,000 contacting constituents could send for a message. People need to elect those into congress that have proven track records of not increasing the size of government and spending more than the government has available to them. In this instance, you need to ask yourself if you want the government to completely take care of you from cradle to grave, or if smart, efficient, smaller, and effective government services and agencies could replace the over-bloated offices seen today. Ultimately, you would get more from your each and every paycheck with which you could determine how you took care of yourself—your healthcare, your insurance, your retirement, etc.

While government exists to provide for the basic needs of a society, it can reach a mass at which it is apt to corrupt and take everyone else down with it. In democratic societies, at least, we are privileged with being able to vote those out of power which do not concur with our manner and method of thinking and living. If we do not, then we are doomed forever down the road of societal decay.