YOU: A Tower of Power

Do you ever ponder why most of us sense a major disconnect between our views and those of most of our legislators and other government officials?
After years of working in and around government institutions and their inhabitants, a partial, important, insight has been gleaned. It got started when I began to wonder why government-speak included terms like they, we, community (as in "how to get the community involved"), the public, etc. Almost never is any time or consideration given to each person and his or her needs or wants. All are grouped for, I suppose, convenience.

But our founding fathers did not do that. They said that the cardinal moral truths are: "... that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness...That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."

It is noteworthy that the rights enumerated as examples are individual in focus. For instance, there is no way for a community, or group, to "pursue happiness." The authors of the above were talking about individuals -- one at a time -- each potentially, inherently valuable and powerful.

If government policy formulation was based on the simple precept that each person should be free to pursue happiness, life, property, etc in liberty and with individual responsibility and accountability for outcomes (hurt another, pay the price), it becomes apparent that many laws would be dramatically different than they are now. Legislators would have much less legislating to do and bureaucrats would have less rules to create and enforce. For example, let each parent seek out the education that best suits their unique individual child. After all, who knows that child better? Poof. All problems of government dictated school management are erased; no more budget, class size, teacher availability, clean restrooms, sufficient textbooks, etc. are there for government to address or solve.

Gosh, I think I've got it. If one is to keep his government job with an adequate workload, a focus on individual autonomy would be dangerous to job security. Because, in government reasoning, the more individuals are empowered, the less power government possesses. For self-protection of career, lifestyle, sense of achievement, official recognition, respect and feeling of power, most government people are motivated to avoid at all costs the moral message stated above. Group-talk, group-think, group-policy are used to hide the issue. That's the disconnect we all feel. Each of us desires self-government, many of these guys are out to dis-empower us; big time.

Sounds hopeless? Not so. Remember the "Consent of the Governed"? That's us; you, me, he, she, even that fellow behind the tree. One at a time. That's how we cast ballots. That's how we make positive change.

The message: Each of us, active and engaged with each other are a -- Tower of Power

Exercise it or lose it -- permanently. Our enemies are highly motivated by self-interest. We better be too.


About the Author:
Richard O. Rowland is president of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, a non-partisan, non-profit public policy institute focused on promoting the free-market, individual freedom and liberty.