Part five on principles: The death of design, the birth of spontaneous order

It's become obvious that government is incapable of designing society to meet a predetermined vision of equality and justice. There are simply too many differences among individuals regarding motivation, ambition, skills, intelligence, knowledge, wants and needs for central planning to determine and create any fair outcome. Plus it's doubtful politicians are driven by great concern over equality and justice, but rather a natural growth of government power and instinct to control when strict limitations are gradually removed. Our present system of government drives individuals to see themselves in the roles of rulers rather than of servants.

John Stuart Mill wrote while giving reasons to limit government intervention: "The third and most cogent reason for restricting the intervention of government, is the great evil of adding unnecessarily to its power. Every function super-added  to those already excercised by the government, causes its influence over hopes and fears to be more widely diffused, and converts, more and more, the active and ambitious part of the public into hangers-on of the government, or of some party which aims at being the government; If the roads, the railways, the banks, the insurance offices, the great joint-stock companies, the universities, and the public charities, were all of them branches of the government; if, in addtion, the municipal corporations and local boards, with all that now devolves on them, became departments of the central administration; if the employees of all these different enterprises were appointed and paid by the government, and looked to the government for every rise in life; not all the freedom of the press and popular constitution of the legislature would make this or any other country free otherwise than in name."

What continues to amaze me is ongoing efforts to support interventionism, knowing that the country is too diverse to control, it dulls enterprise and it eats away at freedoms. Perhaps we'll need four more years before an Awakening, but I have a feeling it's coming soon. McCain has probably missed the opportunity to lead the nation back to sanity. His military bent, his association with Bush and the fact the nation has still not fully realized the dangers of interventionism might mean we suffer four more years of Democrat control and intervention before the nation wakes up and voices arise to articulate the principles of freedom and capitalism.

Much lower taxes, much less regulation, energy independence, much less government spending, free trade and less military involvement and financial-aid overseas -- these are the issues I believe will win in four years. We have got to free small businesses and entrepreneurs to create the type of economy that offers jobs and increases productivity. The age of big, clumsy and connected is coming to an end making way for flexible, efficient, de-centralized and connected (to technology, not government). The only way to do this is untie the hands of enterprise, let them keep what they earn to re-invest, allow workers to keep more what they earn and get out of the way.

We also need a strong committment to agreed upon rules of conduct to establish limited government powers and rule of law so that businesses can feel comfortable investing for the long run. The somewhat paradoxical need is for stability to allow dynamism to work. The stability has to do with confidence and trust in the market and laws to allow dynamism to work free of government meddling. Four years might be a dream, but if the economy continues to sink under the weight of social engineering and central planning, and if leaders emerge who can articulate the fundamental problems and fundamental solutions, I think there is a chance. The movement of the economy underneath the political manueverings is building up energy to break free. We're not dealing with Bubbas on assembly lines and straw bosses anymore, we're dealing with a highly charged technological force and smarter, freer workers. It must be freed -- it can't be stopped, and politicians will be trampled -- the old system of private/public cronyism is dead.

This is the end of this rant. A man can dream, can't he?