CITIZEN-TIMES.com: For us to thrive, = government must ensure the freedoms that count

Opinion=20 =BB Guest=20 Commentaries

For us to thrive, government must ensure the = freedoms that=20 count

by Charles M. Kelly, Guest = commentary

published January 22, 2008 12:15 am

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Bill Steigerwald=92s commentary, =93Ron Paul=92s victory,=94 = (AC-T, Jan. 2),=20 was a revival of Ronald Reagan=92s famous appeal to disenchanted = voters:=20 =93Government is not the solution to our problem; government is = the=20 problem.=94 It=92s the same right-wing strategy Richard Darman = revealed in his=20 book =93Who=92s in Control.=94

Darman, a Republican who served under Nixon, Ford, Reagan and = Bush Sr.,=20 described Newt Gingrich=92s game plan: =93In his cheerful, = confident, radical,=20 professorial way, Gingrich explained that to do what he wanted, = government=20 first had to be completely discredited =97 ethically, = programmatically,=20 managerially, philosophically. ... Once Washington-based = government was=20 totally discredited, hard-right conservatives could then sweep to=20 power.=94

The right-wing attempt to equate freedom with a lack of = government=20 suggests a false premise and detracts from a rational discussion = of=20 society=92s problems. Fact is, all societies are always governed = all the=20 time. The issue isn=92t government or no government, big = government or small=20 government =97 it=92s good vs. bad government. It=92s who=92s = governing, how did=20 they get their power, in whose interests are they governing, and = what are=20 the results of their governing?

Today=92s classic example is Iraq. If its democratically = elected=20 government is unwilling or unable to govern effectively, then = competing=20 militia groups seize control and govern according to their own = powers and=20 desires. A nation in chaos is still a governed society. It=92s = just by the=20 wrong people, for the wrong purposes, and with disastrous=20 consequences.

=93Big government=94 didn=92t fail in handling the aftermath of = hurricane=20 Katrina; bad government failed. Big government didn=92t = successfully handle=20 the results of hurricane Andrew; good government succeeded.

If there is a lesson to be learned here, it is that we had = better elect=20 politicians to government who actually believe in government, and = who will=20 appoint qualified managers to powerful leadership positions, = rather than=20 unqualified cronies.

Solutions, too

So, yes, government is often the cause of our major problems, = but it is=20 often the solution as well. Government is the cause of our = problems when,=20 for example, it chooses to ignore or even distort the science = behind=20 global warming. But only an informed and active government can be = the=20 catalyst for solving the problem of excessive greenhouse = gases.

When George W. Bush assumes powers previously held by the = courts or a=20 democratically elected Congress, he=92s not relieving the public = of=20 excessive government; he=92s just transferring governing power to = himself.=20 That could possibly be OK if he=92s wise and right, but it=92s = horribly bad if=20 he=92s arrogant and wrong.

Right-wing conservatives represent those who want to use their = money=20 and power to govern society in their own interests. To the extent = that=20 they can make government absent or ineffective in our society, = they can=20 step in and control (govern) conditions affecting us all.

Some examples? If government doesn=92t set minimum = environmental=20 standards, corporations do. If government doesn=92t set work = safety and=20 minimum wage standards, corporations do. If government doesn=92t = adequately=20 fund public schools, road maintenance, crime and fire prevention = with=20 taxes, they degenerate. And so on, for virtually every major issue = in our=20 society.

Which kind of freedom do you prefer? The freedom of = corporations to=20 dominate the market by ruthlessly cutting labor costs (by going to = countries where they know workers can be freely brutalized)? Or, = the=20 freedom of corporations that respect workers=92 rights to compete = on a level=20 playing field? When government doesn=92t take a stand, it=92s = always the=20 former.

Proactive leadership

Sure, government can pass some stupid legislation and waste = taxpayer=20 dollars. But not passing enough of the right legislation and not = raising=20 enough taxes to solve society=92s problems and, especially, to = prevent=20 future problems =97 can be even worse. Incidentally, preventing = future=20 problems is far more cost efficient than waiting for a situation = to evolve=20 into a crisis, and is called proactive, vs. reactive, = leadership.

The anti-government argument suggests that we=92d be better off = by=20 getting government out of the business of governing, increasing = the=20 ability of powerful private interests to set standards and make = the rules,=20 and doggedly cutting taxes, primarily for the rich. Those are the = last=20 things we need, as the Bush administration has made perfectly = clear.

Charles M. Kelly, Ph.D., is a retired management consultant = living in=20 Burnsville and author of =93The Destructive Achiever; Power and = Ethics in=20 the American Corporation,=94 and =93Class War in America.=94 He = can be reached=20 at kellycm2@bellsouth.net.

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