We are watching a terrible erosion of freedom and capitalism in the United States. The US House, under threats and bullying from the new administration and the mainstream press, has voted to throw almost ANOTHER trillion dollars at the economic recession; the bill now goes to the Senate.
Every dollar of government money that goes to a commercial enterprise increases government’s control over that company and industry. After that, ‘mission creep’ will extend that control to all companies in the industry, and to other industries. Today it’s a limit on CEO pay in the auto industry; tomorrow government will be setting your wage rate, no matter what you do for a living. Can I get my ticket to Galt’s Gulch now?
This dynamic was spelled out in 1987 by economist Robert Higgs in his Libertarian book Crisis And Leviathan. Amplifying Thomas Jefferson’s sentiment that “The natural tendency is for government to grow and liberty to yield,” Higgs used the expression “the ratchet effect” to describe how this works. In a nutshell, government grows slowly but steadily. At times of crisis it grows suddenly and substantially. When the crisis has passed, government may shrink slightly, but never back to the level it was before the crisis.
Higgs refined his theory in 2004 with Against Leviathan. We paraphrase the Libertarian truism he explained:
Thomas Jefferson explained why this result is so invidious. In the Declaration Of Independence he wrote “…all experience has shown that Mankind are more disposed to suffer, while Evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the Forms to which they are accustomed.” We lose our liberty a little at a time and accept that loss over time when we would rebel if it happened all at once.
Higgs’ evaluation is true no matter at what point you begin. 1789? Washington crushed the Whiskey Rebellion and suddenly the federal government had the power to tax alcohol. 1865? Well, southerners know all about that. The great depression? The House Un-American Activities Committee. Race riots? The Gun Control Act of 1968. September 11th? The Patriot Act. The crash of 2008? The Bailout. We are saddled by all but HUAC to this day.
From Treasury Secretary Paulson raising the threat of mass rioting if Congress didn’t pass the first bailout bill in September to President Obama declaring that only “bold and swift action” will avert the apocalypse, it is in government’s interest to sow panic and fear among the citizenry. The goal of this crisis-mongering is not to help the economy; the purpose is to increase the power of government over business and individuals.
Not that it happened overnight, but in the year 2009 our government views us as “them” — we are a problem to be solved rather than sovereign citizens who ought to be obeyed. Our politicians will not save us from this because most of them benefit from this extension of the ratchet effect. Only citizen vigilance and action will have any impact. That and the election of ideological Libertarians who will work to return Georgia and America to the Jeffersonian ideal created by the founders.
When a car dealer says he can give you a great price but only if you buy today, you know to go elsewhere. All through the current financial dislocation, the government has been behaving like a used car salesman, demanding action NOW to prevent certain doom. It is up to us as citizens to tell our Senators not to buy that snake oil.
