Governance versus Politics

Posted by JaxGary 10 years, 2 months ago to Government
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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!


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  • Posted by 10 years, 2 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I don't think we can actually know the rate of inflation with accuracy. The Keynesian definition of inflation is a general rise in the price level, which cannot be accurately measured; and the Austrian definition of inflation is an increase in the money supply, which cannot be accurately calculated because the Fed is not subject to any external monitoring. We are forced to go with a personal perception and some of us are being pinched a lot harder than others. The only certainty is that government numbers are a lie!
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  • Posted by 10 years, 2 months ago in reply to this comment.
    That is an interesting way of expressing the truth, Thanks for posting those issues with such great clarity. I had never thought about politics like that in the past; but I will never think about politics in the future without remembering them.
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  • Posted by TahoeDagney 10 years, 2 months ago
    If “Government exists to do only those things for the people that the people cannot do for themselves.”, then that which you call “government” & which is more properly called “The State” is not needed at all, since there is NOTHING that “the people cannot do for themselves” far better than can the coercive theft-based State.

    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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  • Posted by CircuitGuy 10 years, 2 months ago in reply to this comment.
    "we should PAY the bank a fee for protecting our money."
    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.
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  • Posted by 10 years, 2 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Taking your statement to its logical conclusion means that if we put our money in a bank for safekeeping, we should PAY the bank a fee for protecting our money. Depositing money in a bank is no different than a grain farmer putting his grain in storage at a granary. The reason banks PAY us a paltry interest rate for our deposits is because they too are counterfeiters when they loan OUR money out to others. When they do that, two claims exist on the same dollar of deposit; I have claim to my dollar and so does the merchant who accepted payment from the loan in exchange for his machinery that he sold to the business that borrowed money from the bank. The bank is betting that we won't both attempt to withdrawal the full amount of account at the same time. The irony is that for some silly reason the public perception of bankers is one based on trust for a "conservative" institution. That is a crock!
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  • Posted by CircuitGuy 10 years, 2 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Thanks for the detailed reply
    "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.
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  • Posted by 10 years, 2 months ago in reply to this comment.
    For any commodity to be used as money it has to meet these three criteria: a medium of exchange, a unit of account, and a store of value. A medium of exchange is anything people are will to accept in exchange for things of value. A unit of account refers to the ability of money to express the value of a thing, actually anything that has value can have its value expressed in terms of how many units of money it is worth. A store of value infers that holding money will not result in a loss of buying power. Why would I be willing to exchange my work today for dollars if the buying power of those dollars diminishes over time? How much time? Any amount of time! A dollar should be able to be exchanged for a good that is worth one dollar; it should not matter if I purchase that good today or next year. With our government intentionally inflating the money supply, the buying power of my dollar is reduced over time. In effect I have been denied some of the value of my money because it now takes more than one dollar to buy what $1 previously bought. Remember, our money is fiat money, and legal tender; so the same government that intentionally inflates the dollar REQUIRES us to use that dollar to settle all debts, both private and public with it. There can be no question if I hold money, I will lose some of my wealth due to inflation. The loss of wealth is obvious. Why do I say the government is stealing my wealth? If I lose value then someone must be gaining value and that someone is the counterfeiter - our government. That is why counterfeiting is a crime. The individual who is first to use the newly printed $1 bill can use that money created out of thin air to purchase $1 worth of goods. That additional money causes the value of all dollars in circulation to loose value because there is one more dollar in circulation, The counterfeiter clearly gains buying power and the holders of money clearly loose value. Is it a stretch to say that counterfeiter steals from us all? No, it is not; and since the government is the counterfeiter, they are the thieves! Notice that gold and other precious metals see fluctuations in their value when expressed in terms of a particular currency, dollars for example; but the relative buying power of gold remains fairly constant over time. The short-term fluctuations are leveled out over the long term so that an ounce of gold will purchase approximately the same amount and quality of products in 2000 as it did in 1900.
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  • Posted by DeanStriker 10 years, 2 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Well! We're in the Rockies of NE Arizona, 2-3 hours from Phoenix. We can see how we mesh and proceed accordingly.

    It's much cooler up here -- but the better jobs are more likely to be found down Phoenix way.
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  • Posted by CircuitGuy 10 years, 2 months ago in reply to this comment.
    @ Jax: I've gone round-and-round with people on this. I do not get the wealth theft thing at all. If money loses value at a predictable rate, the only way you lose money from that is if you hold it as a store of value, which would be dumb after saying it is *not* intended as a long-term store of value.
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  • Posted by 10 years, 2 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Thanks for the link. I have added your site to my favorites under Conservative Views. I intend to relocate to the Phoenix are this summer. I will keep in touch via your website and maybe we can meet face-to-face.
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  • Posted by 10 years, 2 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Dean, we seem to agree more than we disagree. We have different meanings for words and terms, but our concepts are very similar. I am also new and see the threads are not always as neat as I would like them to be.
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  • Posted by DeanStriker 10 years, 2 months ago in reply to this comment.
    @JaxGary - yes I was addressing your essay, while supposing that hitting Reply was programmed to include the name of the addressee. Still learning the ropes here LOL.

    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!
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  • Posted by 10 years, 2 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I would go as far as to say that we have all been conditioned in one way or another; or maybe even more than one way!
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  • Posted by 10 years, 2 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I believe you are addressing my essay. I am not a fan of government per se, by I see a need for governess. For example, I have the right to defend myself. I would have little chance of success if I were to be attacked by 10 aggressive individuals at the same time. The concept of governess existing to protect the rights and property of the citizens by doing what individual citizens cannot so for themselves is appropriate. We have community police to protect us and community fire protection to protect our property. Libertarians would do away with government police and fire and replace them with insurance cooperatives that had identical authority. Either of those methods would imply governess and I am all for it. It is the non-essential elements of government that I rally against.
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  • Posted by DeanStriker 10 years, 2 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Yes indeed, but when you focus on (the myraid of) specific things, you are distracted from the root problem, which is Government, in and of itself.
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  • Posted by $ allosaur 10 years, 2 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I'm thinking alphabet soup EPA, IRS, DOJ, TSA ect., licenses and permits required for all kinds of this and that, red tape, judicial decrees in law books, the emperor's phone and a pen . . .
    The ways we are ruled in this "free country" are countless. Papers please!
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  • Posted by DeanStriker 10 years, 2 months ago in reply to this comment.
    The only way we might "change" the game is by getting rid of the Rulers who write the rules and then pitch the "rule of law". THEIR law, not ours!
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  • Posted by DeanStriker 10 years, 2 months ago in reply to this comment.
    "Government at it's best is a useful servant and at it's worst a terrible monster."

    Hey, it's always that way. People sluff off everything and allow themselves to be Ruled. It's so easy to figure out!
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