Political Naivete 101

by Wesley M. Brown

There is and was no misunderstanding. Our Editor is simply wrong.

I wholeheartedly agree that our Republic is predicated upon the consent of the governed. But I also argue that we have gotten exactly the government we wanted.

If the average American spends most of his/her time thinking about NASCAR, football, Lady Gaga, Lindsey Lohan, Brangelina, Michael Jackson’s death, Anna Nicole Smith’s death, silly bands, and all other indicies of pop culture, how much time and understanding is left to spent on top-kill oil abatement, credit default swaps, TARP, campaign finance, or any other issue that actually affects 300 million Americans and 6 Billion others?

Our beloved government realized in the 1960’s that the Romans were right on with “bread-n-circuses”. If the government can more or less guarantee sufficient basics (food,shelter,etc.), at least enough to prevent revolution, and keep peoples minds occupied with mindless entertainment (i.e. Gladiators were not trained to read Ovid at crowds as far as I know), those that control government can get away with otherwise terrible things.

Our era has been marked with multitudinous incidences of simple theft. We have moved beyond the mindset of entitlement to merely rolling the dice and seeing how much we can steal before being caught. The more I steal, even under the guise of laws that I helped author ,the less likely I am to be truly punished.

Our own justice system, of which I am an ashamed part, underscores this dichotomy. A conviction for the forcible rape of one person carries a sentence in New York of five to twenty-five years as a class B felony. Yet, one who financially rapes an entire system, and who is responsible for the long-term financial suffering of thousands of people will likely never see the inside of a prison. Even if he/she did, their term will be far shorter than the person convicted of rape. Mind, I am not downplaying the horror of rape. But, one rape affects mostly one person and their family, not thousands of retirees who just lost their life savings to a swindler. That is rape too, and far more damaging as a societal matter.

You have rightly accused me of favoring a “less is more” approach to government regulation. I agree fully, but not for the reason you think. I want less government regulation simply because I am not fooled when any administration rolls out a new legislative package that purports to “protect” the citizens’ interests. I wasn’t asked to be on those committees, and every bill I read reeks with the push and power of lobbyists who have far more influence over the process than me. On the contrary, because government must give us the illusion of working for us that it conspires and colludes with the special interests to pull the wool over all of our eyes.

You want a government that is “…required to make sure that all of its people have the same access and rules of fair play governing how the people can do this for themselves.”  So do I…and so does every person who ever lived. The difference is, we have little or no power to write those rules.

I’d write more about the problems with pop culture and government but “Judge Judy” is on.