Paper Five
Thugs.
Darius, Xerxes, Romulus, Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, Genghis and Attila. Emperors, Kings, Princes, Dukes, Earls, Shahs, Imams, Popes, Bishops, Priests and Pharaohs. Satraps, Sultans, Dictators, Governors, Barons, Nobles, Presidents, Maharajahs and Czars. The hierarchy of governing is oppressive and cruel and based on the choices of one or a few. History is the story of thugs writ large.
Western civilization had glimpses into relief from these families and dynasties in the Greek and Roman Republics and the temperance on absolute power in Houses of Parliament, Juntas and the People. Occasional wise rulers were the exception and often not any less cruel for the population being ruled.
Consolidation of power is the sirens song of leaders. Once strong, these leaders are able to extort wealth from the population in the form of taxes and tribute. Once rich, armies can be financed for campaigns of conquest leading to more wealth from taxes and tribute. Hereditary power in the hands of a few on the backs of the population without hope of relief.
Thus was the suffering of mankind for millennia and thus was the glory that came from the victory of the American Revolution against the House of Hanover and the subsequent consolidation of power in a document rather than a family. Thugs could still oppress but could not rise above The US Constitution.
In the US, despite The Constitution, dynasties were still built by thugs; Vanderbilt, Mellon, Ford, Carnegie, Stanford, Rockefeller. They built their business empires squashing any competition and anyone who stood against them. Modern thugs in western civilization, excluding the extortion from classic crime organizations, are called corporations. Their names are many and their goal is the same. Left unchecked these groups will fight for complete domination and ultimate consolidation of wealth and power, doling out oppression as a whim to satisfy their needs.
To prevent this "governments are instituted among men" to ideally strike a balance in commerce between business growth and maintaining competition. Sometimes it is appropriate for governments to control a single sector of commerce, though most of the time it is not. Consider basic utilities that are best served by one entity as well as services that do not fall under the pressures of capitalist competition.
An example of a service that does not fall under the pressures of capitalist competition, yet remains out of the control of our citizens, is human medicine. If a person is having a heart attack there is not much time for cost comparisons. They are at the mercy of a hospital business structure whose shareholders are more important than the customer; as is the corporate norm. To address this, medical insurance companies came into existence initially tasked with representing the masses against corporate medicine; yes, socialism. But as the siren wails her song these entities became profit driven to benefit shareholders to the unchecked detriment of its customers; the sick.
Insurance companies (life, auto, house, medical) are socialism cloaked in capitalist guise. There is irony in an insurance company screaming "Socialism!" when fighting against, in this example, government controlled health care. The irony is that every shareholder controlled health insurance company wants a single payer system; they just want it to be them. Such a common "utility" as health care like water, sewage, power, police and fire departments may be best served under control of The People via government rather than a board of directors beholden to limited shareholders. But this can't happen.
Such a concept is hard to debate for its merits and detriments because we currently have thugs controlling government in the form of political parties. The hierarchy that makes up these parties are supported by corporate thugs and between the two our system is hijacked by a power structure it was intended to prevent. This same power structure becomes unable to regulate appropriate capitalism stifling the engines that made this country great; competition driving innovation and price control through choice of products. There should be competition in most business sectors with the role of government in maintaining an even field of fairness, access, safety and integrity between businesses and the people they cater to.
To move toward this more perfect union a war of revolution is not again necessary because the writers of the document that governs us had the fore site to enable change to fit a growing and experienced populace. Rather than violence we can vote an amendment to liberate our government from the House of Republican, House of Democrat and various Boards of Directors. These entities will of course remain free to exist and compete, just no longer as thugs.
To complete the quote above, "Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."
Recognize it?
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