Restoring the American Dream - Revisited and Reactivated - Part 1 - The Diagnosis
Robert Ringer wrote a classic book on liberty, freedom and property
rights "Restoring the American Dream" almost 30 years ago. It caused quite
a splash soaring up to Number 1 on the New York Times' bestseller
list. This book along with others paved way for the "liberal" massacre in
the 1980 election. The voters wisely removed some the biggest spenders
from office. It appeared a new era of free enterprise and personal
liberty was within our reach. Big government would become a thing of the
past—to finally fade away in the deepest recesses of our memories.
Now 28 years later our economic system is crumbling under the weight of
massive government interventionism. Governments are selling out
personal liberty and freedom wholesale. We jail more people than the
countries run by the bloodiest despots. More than 75% of the people in prison
are incarcerated for "victimless" crimes.
What happened to the great vision of liberty and freedom—that the
libertarian thinkers so logically and eloquently proved was the only way
individuals can prosper and thrive? Why are we suffering through the
horrors perpetrated by a government on the path of destruction?
We must get to the root of the matter to answer these questions. We
must ask: What terrible violations of reason and rationality are
responsible for the destruction of the American Way of Life?
Natural Law
Natural Law states that an individual has a right to his life, liberty
and property. This means that an individual owns his life. He owns the
fruits of his labor. Nobody has the right to expropriate these from him
by force—or that method of coercion called “the will of the majority.”
You can also conclude that an individual has a right to engage in any
voluntary exchange—without the interference of governments or criminals.
Since an individual owns his life—he has the right to consume any
substance of his choice.
Altruists preach a philosophy of sacrifice and self-denial. They
attempt to convert the lone individual into a sacrificial victim. They say it
is for "the good of society." This anti-life philosophy of
selflessness violates Natural Law. It is irrational and contradictory. It defies
all reason and justice. Because of this—altruists and other assorted
"world-improvers" enlist the violent compulsion and coercion of the
government. Since most people won't voluntarily submit to their irrational
demands—they sic the dogs on them.
Consistent violations of Natural Law gradually eat away at individual
rights. Every time a liberty violator says "Government ought to do
something about that" they are advocating violating someone's life, liberty
and property. They systematically destroy the American Dream.
Economic Law
Economic Law starts it reasoning with basic premises that are known to
be true. These are called a priori principles. Economics (Praxeology)
is a deductive science. Unfortunately, altruists and other liberty
violators deny there is any such thing as Economic Law. As far as they are
concerned anything goes. And anything does go—in the form of the most
extreme violations of Economic Law imaginable.
Our economy is rift with these violations. And it is evident that much
damage has been inflicted—and the damage is accelerating. If an
individual violates Economic Law and commits numerous mistakes—the marketplace
penalizes him and removes him from his money and position. This way he
doesn’t inflict any more harm on the rest of "society."
All benefit when the speculators with the best knowledge of changes
occurring on the stock market are directing capital investment—when the
entrepreneurs who most effectively anticipate future change organize and
direct production—when the most efficient producers are the ones
producing goods and services. The final goal of production is—everyone
involved profits because the consumers most urgent desires are satisfied.
When government blatantly violates Economic Law the marketplace
attempts to dish out the necessary penalties. Unfortunately for all—the
government has the power to tax and inflate—which they use with reckless
abandon. They continue their violations of Economic Law. They indulge in
their drunken orgy of tax, inflate and regulate. It doesn't take a genius
to figure out the result of this "mentality." Of course, government
officials, politicians and bureaucrats are actually drunk from the
abusive power they hold over others. It is obvious their drunken behavior has
detrimental effects on the citizens they claim to represent.
Diagnosis
So what is our diagnosis of what is causing the destruction of the American Dream?
- Government's disregard of Natural and Economic Law resulting in massive violations of its citizen's life, liberty and property.
- The support of government interventionism by its citizens. It appears that most are impervious to the reality that government policies are not in their long-term interests. They line up at the government smorgasbord of benefits—not realizing that the productive members of "society" end up picking up the tab. They blithely ignore the fact that one day—in the not-to distant future—the piper will demand payment—the smorgasbord wasn’t really free. They live in a fog of unreality. After all, the government has no wealth of its own. It can only obtain it from the productive efforts of others. Unless stopped—the day comes when the government has sucked all the wealth out of the economy.
Don McLean wrote and sang the prophetic and classic song "American Pie "—a song about the day the music died. He may have to revise the song to sing about the day the American Dream died—or maybe he already has it right. "Bye-bye Miss American Pie" is tragically becoming our new reality.
In Part 2, I will present some solutions for restoring the American Dream.
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