Recently my son wrote to me, more than just a bit befuddled, about a discussion with some of his co-workers. They claimed that a third party candidate, a libertarian no less, would become a dictator. Said they, power must be dictated from the bottom up, not the top down. A libertarian would want to turn the entire world of government upside down. So ergo, a libertarian would become a dictator.
Speaking of third party electoral candidates he asked, “Is it the offshoot that becomes the dictator? Could a third party in the US political system really be the devil in savior clothing?” I am confident he knew the answer to that, but wanted the benefit of my having read a little more into American and ancient history than he has.
I’m caught between crying and packing my bags. Nicaragua isn’t sounding so bad at the moment.
These are precisely the people who, when they finally obtain the tyrant they so desperately seek, will turn upon him and blame for all the evils they endured under his reign. Perhaps my response led him astray somewhat, for there are numerous examples of tyrants having been installed by action of our CIA. Many of the modern-day dictators that come to mind have their roots in CIA sponsored overthrows. Nevertheless, monopolies are sustained by those who favor the monopoly, whether of foreign or domestic influence, not by those who run them.
My exposition to my son on the case of tyrants began with a simple summation: A real libertarian as President is likely to be a) assassinated, b) neutralized by Congress, c) resign. Tyrants are given power, usually by the representatives of the people. It isn’t until this power is delegated that they begin their reign of terror and depredation upon minorities. Those overlords who are installed by the rulers of an Empire are not usually called dictators, simply because they are appointed lackeys in the regime. I presented my case that we already have a dictator in the White House, long before Bush Baby. We know his “secret” works as Emperor, although we nostalgically continue to use the term Mr. President.
Like some barnyard animals, some people need a solid thwack between the horns to get them to wake up to what they are thinking. Libertarianism is not a political party. Libertarianism is an ideology. Libertarians who are compelled by the present system to combine into a party, like Republicans or Democrats, are interested in minimizing the intervention and influence of government. A libertarian, true to his ideology, by definition cannot be a tyrant. The conflict of partisanship is irrelevant and counterproductive to their objective. When President Washington chided Congress about party spirit in his Farewell Address, he was reminding them that our experiment in government wasn’t promoted by partisanship, but by following their own rules laid down in the Constitution.
Alas, not even Washington followed them, and installed as Secretary of the Treasury a man who did more damage to the Constitution than all the bickering during the Convention. By this decision, Washington opened the door to the devolution of the newly created Republic into a Democracy. Franklin should have marched right back into the Convention and charged the delegates with preserving the Republic. Why? Because they are the first line of defense against all enemies of the Constitution, foreign or domestic. If they don’t, it is tantamount to the horse getting out of the barn. A great deal of effort by the people is required to put everything back in order as intended.
Mark Kelly in his book Gabby laments the spirit of violence infesting our Democracy, and perverting our political process. One would think that such a highly educated and experienced astronaut would understand what a gaffe his lament was. Contrary to what some Internet swamis assert, we do not have, and have not had for over two hundred years, a Republic, although the present form somewhat carries the label. We have a Democracy (manipulated by an oligarchy), and those who proposed the Republican form knew that democracies are always turbulent. Violent. Taiwan’s political representatives pugilating their differences in chambers is not the first example. We have our own exhibits of violence in Congress. Violence in fact, as Jefferson stated, is the last resort of the people when re-establishing their will over that of their appointed representatives, even to demolishing the structure and starting over. In the story of Dune all one needs do is substitute blood for spice wherever it is asserted the spice must flow, and that is the sum and essence of what we have in government around the world.
My son’s co-workers, and indeed even astronaut Kelly just don’t get it: The intent of the oligarchy running the world is for the blood to flow. A world population of a half billion will not change that policy. It is how they operate, and have always operated, and will continue to operate until the people wake up to their manipulation, choosing the peace of self-government and abandoning government sanctioned Entitlement.
SethSmee
