COPS-ROBBERS-GOOD GUYS-MEDIA
OR JUST ROBBERS

by

Ed Dedelow

GOVERNMENT'S RESPONSIBILITY IS TO ADMINISTER THE PRIVATE SECTOR

Government's responsibility has been in debate for millennium. In the construction of the United States Constitution, government was designed as an administrator to a free market system and to provide protections against crime and corruption. A free press was established as a second line of defense and as a protection against crime and corruption in government. Corruption and greed is often identified only with capitalism and not associated with government. Indeed, the history of our private sector has been filled with examples of scams, white-collar crime, predatory pricing, fraud, labor injustices, monopolies, the Mafia and every form of corruption one can imagine.

Corruption and greed, however, are not limited to the private sector. Government has had more than its share of corruption. We have had corrupt party bosses, bribery, extortion, cronyism, patronage, graft, embezzlement, bribes, illicit campaign contributions, election fraud, kickbacks, police brutality, influence peddling and politicians involved in organized crime. When government turns corrupt, it becomes the Robbers.

There have always been Robbers in corporate America and in government, but, there were also Good Guys. With government acting only as a private sector administrator, citizens can fight back and demand new laws and prosecutions. When government fails, citizens can turn to the Media to publicize injustice and generate public pressure to force change. If government limits its responsibilities to that of an administrator, then citizens have two means to secure justice: government as a Cop, and the Media.

The same is not true when government becomes the Robbers. There is no doubt, corruption in government is not always illegal. Segregation was legalized in nearly every Southern state. Today, Congress routinely passes pork barrel spending projects to reward both supporters back home and lobbyists for special interest groups. Our attorney-filled legislatures, supported by massive campaign contributions from their brethren, have turned the United States into the most litigious country in the world. Government-employee unions, who make large campaign contributions, win contracts that exceed those awarded to the strongest private unions. On top of this, our politicians endorse causes just to win tight races but, they quickly forget that support once they are elected to office. All of this is paid for by a seemingly unlimited well of increasing taxes, and other charges for what was once paid for with our taxes.

When government takes control and makes all the choices, we lose our freedom. Freedom sets the stage for the struggle between Good Guys and Robbers, both those in government, and in our private businesses, and freedom is the avenue for the pursuit of justice. Freedom means free choice. This includes the freedom to choose the goods and services we desire. Capitalism is the system that responds to our desires without the bureaucratic difficulties of government. Just as free people have the ability to make choices in the marketplace, we can also choose our employment or the means to fulfill our desires. Capitalism is, in fact, an invention of free people. We lose our freedom when government makes all the choices.

There is a mood in the United States that the private sector is too corrupt and too greedy to be allowed to act on its own and that government should strictly regulate, even take over major sectors of the economy. There are those who call for controls on our free speech under the guise of political correctness, and for controls on any media that opposes the interference of government in the private sector. What happens when a government takes over our free choice and sets a higher value on its choices in our market basket? What happens when government demands that our labor fulfill government demands before all others? What happens when government decides which media is correct and what language is correct? Government has become the elephant in the room stepping on our rights and freedoms. Yet, many citizens direct their rage and indignation at millions of businesses, their workers and the people for making the wrong choices. Most people are just trying to avoid getting trampled by the elephant and striving to protect our freedom. No matter how much corruption has been perpetrated on the public by any individual or business in the private sector, none has ever equaled the dastardly acts of a "legal" government. Nearly all the great men of the past who spoke out against controlling systems such as Socialism or Communism believed that the only way for them to work was if the leaders were half-gods, demigods who would make only righteous decisions. There are no demigods. When all that exists is a corrupt government and a controlled media there will only be Robbers and our freedoms will be lost.

Think about it.

Think outside the box.

Scientific Capitalist