Gazing in the Mirror

November 6 - The Basis of Government

In a democracy, people get
the leaders they deserve.
~ Joseph-Marie, comte de Maistre,
in 1811 regarding Russia's new constitution

When we learn to trust the Universe,
we shall be happy, prosperous and well.
We must learn to come under that
Divine Government, and accept the fact
that Nature's table is ever filled.
~ Ernest Holmes

What is the true basis of government ? Man. Many people like to complain about government and many people feel powerless in the face of government. I'll admit that I complain on occasion too. However I do acknowledge that what I am complaining about I am equally to blame for. Many of us, myself included, fell asleep at the wheel when we should have been driving. Consequently changes occurred within our government structures which we now must turn our attention to, if we have any hope of shifting the balance of power back to where it was always intended to be – on "we, the people".

When I first wrote this essay in 2012, it was the first Tuesday in the month of November during a Presidential election year. This happens every 4 years in the United States of America and I am always glad to reach the end of the political season during which candidates for office are constantly vying for the electorate's attention. The truth is that most people would never be willing to take the responsibilities of governance upon themselves. The quote I chose above for this essay is a well-known quote that has frequently been mis-attributed to Alexis de Tocqueville and is used frequently by people. De Tocqueville is quoted as saying "Laws are always unstable unless they are founded on the manners of a nation; and manners are the only durable and resisting power in a people".

De Tocqueville was a very thoughtful man and his various quotes are worth considering. It was useful to spend time with his thoughts today as I was arriving at the end of yet another season of divisive politics. This concept of his caught my attention – "The last thing a political party gives up is its vocabulary. This is because, in party politics as in other matters, it is the crowd who dictates the language, and the crowd relinquishes the ideas it has been given more readily than the words it has learned." It is almost impossible to place any import on the words. There is always a lot of spin and doublespeak among politicians.

He also had an idealistic concept of "democratic" society – "If a democratic society displays less brilliance than an aristocracy, there will also be less wretchedness; pleasures will be less outrageous and well-being will be shared by all; the sciences will be on a smaller scale but ignorance will be less common; opinions will be less vigorous and habits gentler; you will notice more vices and fewer crimes. The best of the human spirit would agree with such values."

However I believe that modern technology does change a few of those "rules" for recognizing "the best of the human spirit". Any person can become wiser. Reasonable people have no need to accumulate beyond their actual usage of items and all people should have what is required for their basic well-being and survival. The wealthy often over-consume much more than they need – in the form of houses, cars, boats or planes, clothing, etc. There is a disparity of riches and this de Tocqueville did not see as a good thing. While science often brings greater knowledge and understanding of the way the world "works", science can be used to skew truth in order to convince people that things that are not actually good for them should be embraced as somehow beneficial. People should be able to easily have a clearer, more "natural" understanding of what their legitimate needs "should be" and with right understandings and adequate provision be less inclined to use criminal behavior to obtain their needs or desires. Need breeds desperation.

Our "American" governmental system was founded on "Christian" principles as the founders understood those including a separation of powers (Judicial, Legislative and Executive). The very best government begins with "self-government". A naturally self-governed individual needs no overt, external, coercive action to function well. In such an individual the motivation to "do what is best" for all concerned comes naturally without force. Unfortunately at present our society includes many individuals who have been "damaged" in one manner or another during their maturing process making it appear that an authority is required to keep society "civil" for all. This country was founded on moral and ethical values. Our evolution reflects what those values have become now – values that often seem reflective of "winning" in any competitive endeavor and the accumulation of wealth by any means necessary, with altruism losing the values race. Perhaps we actually have received the government we deserve. I would like for us to deserve "better" than what we appear to have now.

~ perspective

I take responsibility for my own
self-governance and therefore I
need no external authority to behave
in a manner that harms no one.
I participate in the ways that society
makes it possible for me, whether these
be in the mainstream or in contrast to
the conventional mores, as my inner
guidance calls upon me to do.
I am not afraid to express my opinion
for I know it to be some part of the
collective sum of such opinions that
create the laws and acceptable behaviors
upon which civilization is dependent.
There are certain personal values that
I hold dear – an equality of dignity
for each person being a primary
value that I embrace.
I contribute what I can to create a
government that expresses the purest
divinity possible when reflected in the
less than whole that is each human spirit.