Government That . . .

Often it appears that political and economic discussions consist in the adoption of a primary premise which becomes a conclusion. Logic and facts, although claimed as primary, are cleansed into a reformed conclusion supportive of the assumed premise. Why, because in a juxtaposition of words, it just sounds good. It is the conclusion of a conclusion and thus, must be correct.

This is compounded when the greater part of popular discussion cannot be separated from punditry. There is a subtle seduction through which we tend to simply accept statements that have been repeated so many times that fiction gains acceptance as fact. Then again, such fictitious facts can become the conclusion of a conclusion and thus, must be correct.

Take for example the belief attributed to Thomas Jefferson that government is best which governs least. The fact is, while this idea may be in line with Jefferson’s opinions, no such statement is found in his writings. The real source may be Henry David Thoreau in 1849 or an 1837 editorial in The United States Magazine and Democratic Review.

Unfortunately, what John Quincy Adams called the Jefferson-Madison partnership was in purpose a limitation of “evil” federal authority over states in 1790-1791. The Jefferson-Madison limitation upon “a government that governs least” reflects the view that by limiting federal over state sovereignty the subjugation of individuals whose enslaved labor was necessary to preserve the plantation economy in tidewater Virginia and southern states could be maintained.

Then “big government” intervention threatened to end slavery. We know this because in 1790, Ben Franklin was a prominent signatory on a Quaker petition that urged Congress to question the slave trade and slavery in America. In the first open debate over slavery in the US history, Madison led the floor fight in the House to block any extension of federal authority and preserved the slave trade by strict interpretation of the Constitution and any extension of federal authority over slavery.

Today, the argument over “big government” intervention is used in many forms. The real question is whether and how American citizens are subjugated by such argument. Lost is a government of the people, by the people and for the people.

John F. Kostyo