By Isaac Yetiv, PhD
LA JOLLA, California — In the last 13 articles I attempted to tackle the most arduous problems plaguing America today, and I offered some solutions in the belief that the dire situation is not an act-of-God: the predicament is man-made, and the medicament will be man-made too.
I trust the following thoughts , if heeded in time, will make the healing process easier:
A) Who are we as a nation? Our credo, our ethos, our vocation? The U.S.of A was born with Judeo-Christian values anchored in the biblical Ten Commandments to which was grafted a secular system of government epitomized in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution that guarantee individual rights and liberties to all, limited only by the rights and liberties of others. This happy conjunction is at the source of American legendary prosperity and of what is called, justifiably to a certain limit, “American exceptionalism.” The “Social Contract” of America avoided the extremes: neither a cruel “catch-as-catch-can and crush the weak and the destitute, ” nor a totalitarian state in which the government knows all, owns all, and provides for all the needs of an obedient and dependent citizenry, thus killing any incentives and natural impulses of human beings to improve their lot, and leading ineluctably to abject poverty.
We are a capitalistic society with a safety net. Every individual enjoys total freedom to create, invent, innovate, work hard and make sacrifices, and enjoy the fruits of his labor. The state is enriched by the wealth thus amassed and is able, via taxes, to help those who couldn’t help themselves. The class warfare instigated by the Left, including, unfortunately, US Senators, US Representatives, and even the President, is not operative in the USA. It is alien to our political ethos. Contrary to Europe, for example, the “poor” in America do not envy or begrudge other citizens’ wealth; they want to emulate them and become rich themselves. And they know that is not a dream, that is “the American Dream.” The multitude of rags-to-riches stories, found in all walks of life, among all races, native-born and immigrants, in business, sports, entertainment, are there to prove it.
It is in the interest of all, rich and poor, to nurture this social equilibrium which, if broken, will lead to the social unrest and riots we witnessed in Greece, Britain,and elsewhere.
Eighty years ago, Dr Adrian Rogers wrote the following which I quote in extenso because of its contemporary validity and proven veracity: “You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is about the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.”
B) On paychecks and food stamps: The “safety net” provides temporary relief in dire circumstances but very few able-bodied persons prefer a handout to an earned income; a paycheck is always preferable to a food stamp. What is alarming in the present trend is that millions have lost their jobs and survive on government largesse. And the situation doesn’t seem to improve due to the flight of capital, in the trillions, caused by a very high (35%) corporate tax rate, together with a flight of jobs, in the millions, to third world countries where labor is cheap and unregulated. These two huge negatives are not offset by one positive counterpart like a job-producing (and revenue increasing) activity. The opposite is true: as mentioned before, the moratorium on local energy development, instituted for ideological reasons, deprives the economy of substantial national wealth and of about half a million jobs needed to exploit our abundant underground and undersea energy.
What does it take for the president to lift the moratorium when 79% of Americans believe it is needed? And why wouldn’t a liberal and progressive government protect the jobs of its citizens by imposing a tariff on products manufactured abroad to level the playing field? The mantra of “free trade is a misnomer because it is not really “free.” And the destitution, humiliation, and despair of the unemployed should trump any other consideration.
The de-industrialization of America should stop. We must start re-making things, put our people to work, collect revenues, restore their dignity, and revive our economy.
C) The locus of authority and responsibility: Only in totalitarian countries can a giant state be ruled from one center of authority. One of the virtues of Democracies is de-centralization. This is why we, a nation of 320 millions, have fifty states. The 10 th amendment to the Constitution leaves “to the states or the people” any power not specifically “enumerated” to the Federal government . But the passage of time has eroded the prerogatives of the states to the benefit of the Fed. They should be gradually restored (education, health etc…). The closer the unit of government to the beneficiaries, the more efficient it is.
A similar kind of encroachment has occurred to the detriment of the Legislative power which is the real representative of the will of the people.We saw how lawmaking power has been “usurped” by the president and by judges who have imposed non-majority values and policies on the country. Thomas Jefferson, speaking of the judges, lamented “the despotism of an oligarchy.” “They are, he said, the miners and sappers of Democracy.”
In general, when the powers are not well delineated, the locus of responsibility becomes uncertain and fluid. In the successive ordeals that have plagued us recently, it was impossible to pin the blame and assess responsibility. Remember Katrina, the financial meltdown, the shutdown of the government, and now the debt crisis, when each party blamed the other.
Institutions like Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac, so-called quasi-governmental or pseudo-governmental (i.e. they privatize their gains and socialize their losses) are the examples par excellence of authority without responsibility, and should be abolished, or really “privatized.” Even the Federal Reserve , which wields immense power such as deciding the rate of interest or injecting trillions into the economy, is an authority without responsibility and provides an excuse for the elected government when things turn sour. It has no equal in other democracies, and should be dispensed with. Let the elected government be praised for success or blamed for failure with the sanction of non-reelection.
There are solutions to the problems plaguing America. The political configuration prevents them from coming to the fore. This is a Gordian knot that begs to be severed and we don’t have an Alexander the Great who could cut it with his sword. I repeat for the last time that our only way to salvation is
that both parties, and both the Executive and Legislative Powers, admit to their incapacity to work together, and together appoint the non-partisan commission of expert technocrats and task it with producing solutions that are “good for America.” They will be allowed an up-and-down vote. The governments and parties will not volunteer. They need to be pushed. By whom? By you, the citizen. How? By telling your representatives, senators, president, what you think, and threaten not to vote for them on the next round.
It will be immensely helpful if each individual citizen frees him/herself from his/her “loyalty” to the party, whatever it is, and become “independent” (like me) whose stock is more valued than the one who is taken for granted. If you don’t agree with a candidate, don’t vote for him/her because of the party!
I hope you heed this advice. If you have a better idea, please share it with me. Yours faithfully, Isaac Yetiv
This concludes the series “SOS America.” To review the entire series, please click on this link: https://www.sdjewishworld.com/?s=Yetiv&x=0&y=0
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Yetiv is a freelance writer and lecturer based in La Jolla, California