Governance versus Politics
Posted by JaxGary 9 years, 3 months ago to Government
Now that the 2014 mid-term election cycle is behind us we see the early stages of the 2016 presidential election, we should consider the desired role of government. Do we want a government that protects the people or one that rules over them? Do we want governance or politics as usual?
Governance is simply fulfilling the responsibilities assigned to their office; and restricting ALL of their official activities to doing only those things. Our founders thought the only proper role of government is to protect the people and the property owned by them. Government exists to do only those things for the people that the people cannot do for themselves. Governance is the essence of preserving individual liberty and freedoms.
Politics, on the other hand, is a system of coercion that concentrates power in a few individuals so they may exert that power over others to achieve whatever personal goals those rulers have established for themselves. Politics is most effective in state and national government as the body of elected officials have the legal authority to lay and collect taxes and then use those revenues to reward their friends and punish their enemies. Politics is antithetical to individual freedom!
There are really only two choices; a government that protects the people or a government that abuses the people.
The American people need to recognize politics for what it is – an abusive power grab by elected and appointed elites who believe only they are smart enough to make decisions for the average person. The reality is that no government system or form can endure unless the majority of the people support it. Why do so many Americans today support a corrupt system that takes from some and gives to others while burdening all?
Our economy in in total shambles compared to where it was shortly after the industrial revolution when we produced more than half of the manufactured goods in the world. The dollar has lost almost all of its value in the last hundred years. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI inflation calculator, it would take $23.62 today to purchase what could have been purchased in 1913 for $1.00; an inflation rate of 2,362%! Another way of looking it is that only 3 cents would have bought in 1913 what $1.00 will buy today. A penny had real value at that time.
Politics has created government growth resulting in an out-of-control behemoth that currently has an insatiable appetite for taxing and spending. Today Congress, as an institution, is only respected by a single-digit percentage of Americans who think they are doing a good job of governing.
My question is why any American thinks Congress is governing!
Governance is simply fulfilling the responsibilities assigned to their office; and restricting ALL of their official activities to doing only those things. Our founders thought the only proper role of government is to protect the people and the property owned by them. Government exists to do only those things for the people that the people cannot do for themselves. Governance is the essence of preserving individual liberty and freedoms.
Politics, on the other hand, is a system of coercion that concentrates power in a few individuals so they may exert that power over others to achieve whatever personal goals those rulers have established for themselves. Politics is most effective in state and national government as the body of elected officials have the legal authority to lay and collect taxes and then use those revenues to reward their friends and punish their enemies. Politics is antithetical to individual freedom!
There are really only two choices; a government that protects the people or a government that abuses the people.
The American people need to recognize politics for what it is – an abusive power grab by elected and appointed elites who believe only they are smart enough to make decisions for the average person. The reality is that no government system or form can endure unless the majority of the people support it. Why do so many Americans today support a corrupt system that takes from some and gives to others while burdening all?
Our economy in in total shambles compared to where it was shortly after the industrial revolution when we produced more than half of the manufactured goods in the world. The dollar has lost almost all of its value in the last hundred years. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI inflation calculator, it would take $23.62 today to purchase what could have been purchased in 1913 for $1.00; an inflation rate of 2,362%! Another way of looking it is that only 3 cents would have bought in 1913 what $1.00 will buy today. A penny had real value at that time.
Politics has created government growth resulting in an out-of-control behemoth that currently has an insatiable appetite for taxing and spending. Today Congress, as an institution, is only respected by a single-digit percentage of Americans who think they are doing a good job of governing.
My question is why any American thinks Congress is governing!
sucks!!!
Strike "politics", replacing that with GOVERNment. Politics is merely the natural and inevitable part of that equation.
Surely you realize that GOVERNments are always granted powers of Force. As the People have no role in the so-called Balance of Powers, it always results in Tyranny and eventually governments always fail. Ditto all the empires and kingdoms and land barons before them. Always they fail, yet always they are replaced in kind..
Everyone is supposedly born with the Right to Life, which necessarily includes other rights to sustain and enhance that life. That can mean only that Individual Sovereignty must prevail. As it stands today and always before, Governments are "permitted" to deny that Sovereignty, and the Billions of Sheeple on this planet accept it without question. It's Catch22 in action.
To govern means to control. Early tractor engines had a "governor" to control and limit the maximum RPM. That device on our old Allis Chalmer tractor was troublesome and could interfere with starting. Seems that system today is either gone or controlled by electronics.
We can surmise control has always been the charge of governments, thus they are handed the powers of Force over the very "citizens" they supposedly "protect". IOW by accepting being governed we humans concede our sovereignty to... other humans! Paradoxical, huh?
So Power corrupts until once again the Government must be overthrown, only to be replaced by yet another government. Go figger!
Sans government, there can be no more edicts by Rulers, so humans organize (Voluntary) entities such as cooperatives, corporations, associations, whatever, to accomplish desired objectives for themselves. Alway6s such entities have freedom of entry and exist, thus very different from governments from which there is virtually no voice and never an escape hatch!
It's much cooler up here -- but the better jobs are more likely to be found down Phoenix way.
When benefits like health care and pensions are included, "federal worker compensation averaged $115,524, or 74 percent more than the private-sector average of $66,357."
http://cnsnews.com/news/article/eric-sch...
The fairly tale of the Golden Goose comes to mind.
Riddle: How many private sector workers are required to support ONE public sector worker?
Answer: None; the public sector workers are being paid with "magic money" that is created as needed in Washington, DC.
You’re quite correct ‘bout politics. It’s pure force. There are only four issues involved in any political question:
1—Who gets to hold the State gun (who will be the State “leaders” -- decided in “elections” or by bureaucratic appointment)
2—At whom will the gun be pointed (who will be the victims of State confiscation of property, health, life, freedom -- decided by the House & Senate … & lately, by the President)
3—How much property will be stolen from the victims (decided by House & Senate)
4—Who will benefit from the theft (decided by House & Senate)
RE: “My question is why any American thinks Congress is governing!” … ‘cause we’ve all been indoctrinated for generations by State-controlled schools and media. We do not need those either.
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Folks back then recognized that Reagan referred to three three branches of government and the vast bureaucracy that went with it.
Of course, "We The People" started out to be and allegedly still is the government.
Now to date among "We The People" we must factor in all the low information voters, the moochers, and the socialists who play the former two groups as a percentage of "We The People."
A huge percentage. A growing percentage.
Looks like my reasoning just went full circle, y'all.
The government still is the problem..
The ways we are ruled in this "free country" are countless. Papers please!
Maybe I'm being too abstract and can't wrap my head around that.
That's OK.
Jimmy Carter would call us both racists for not thinking like the emperor.
Like a parent unable to appropriately address the needs of their children, turn on them, using coercion and physical force which escalates to violence and disassociation.
Hey, it's always that way. People sluff off everything and allow themselves to be Ruled. It's so easy to figure out!
Regarding the part about Congress's approval, most people disapprove of Congress but like their Congressman. Maybe someone can crack the issue of getting people to hold their own congressmen accountable.
http://www.shadowstats.com/
"Why would I be willing to exchange my work today for dollars if the buying power of those dollars diminishes over time?"
The reason is you're either planning to spend it soon or you're going to put it in some other store of value. You're correctly saying you lose some value as you walk from the person who gave you the money to the person you're going to give it to. I say money isn't necessarily free. There are costs of protecting it and remitting it.
I do agree that it is a human right to create/use whatever media of exchange people want.
That's exactly how I think of it. I think of a bank account as insurance. I say insurance b/c the value decays in a predictable way, unlike other assets, which change due to market conditions. The banking system provides liquidity, and I pay for it. I don't keep a significant share of our net worth parked there.
This is the argument that inflation only affects good/services you buy but not those you sell.
I understand the Austrian view on the cause of inflation (and I agree with it). But that is the cause, not the effect. The effect of inflation is either benign (income grows at the same or faster pace as price increases - which comes about via improvements in efficiency) or it is negative (prices increase due to more money, but that money isn't distributed throughout the system but rather is "stuck"). There is no positive effect of inflation.
The EFFECT of inflation is that more of those dollars that are now worth less are required to purchase the same goods that could have been bought for less in the past.
There is a HUGH distinction in viewing the price are rising as the effect compared to the real effect that the dollar is losing value.
It may appear to be a matter of semantics but it boils down to are we people or sheeple? I like to call liars and thieves by their proper terms when they lie to me and steal from me. I am not inclined to let them slide by saying, with a shrug of their shoulders; "It's not fault; inflation is the culprit". I hope I do not offend you with my insistence on using words correctly; I am strongly anti-PC and I teach for a living. PC speech is bridge to controlling the thoughts (and minds) of sheeple.
[bad joke]Just about everything, but not actually everything
“The true rate of inflation is also being masked by rapid improvements in technology, which would significantly reduce the price of just about everything if the government were not always adding to the money supply.” Nothing in that sentence is refuted by your post, and nothing in that sentence necessitates a “belief that inflation is a general rise in price levels.”
You said, “The only logical, and provable definition of inflation is an increase in the money supply.” How do you prove a definition? Definitions must precede proofs, as defined terms are necessary components of logical proofs. I have never seen a logical proof of the form "the definition of this word is so-and-so because . . . "
This is true only if the number of goods/services in the economy remains constant.
"It worked really well for a few hundred years until Keynes published his book of lies."
The number of goods/services in an agricultural economy is more constant. An industrial economy creates more goods and services all the time. An information economy accelerates this further.
No, I see smaller fractional currency as not workable, thus some form of currency growth is useful.
I see what you're saying. If we didn't expand the money supply, you could gain value from a growing economy just by parking money under your mattress. You wouldn't have to use financial services companies and tax efficient strategies. That has appeal.