Last week an op-ed published in this very newspaper officially declared that the single function of government is to "promote the common good." When I read this I actually winced with pain. How could it be that anyone would assume the only purpose of our government is to look out for some vague ideal like "the common good?" I understand that government needs to play a role in promoting the common defense, but how do you define the common good? Is ethanol good? Is bankrupting coal plants good? Is shutting down nuclear plants good? Is abortion good? Is subsidizing poor decision making good? Who gets to determine what contributes to the common good and what does not? Who among us hath the wisdom to guide us to the promise land of common goodness?
If one desires to find an example of a government that strived to promote a "common good" one might study the Holocaust, the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, or prohibition. But, perhaps our elected officials can transcend the petty grievances of the common man in order to govern objectively.
However, the politicians who make our laws, and the bureaucrats that enforce them, will inevitably construe the common good around their own self interest. History supports me when I say that no man, be he a beggar or laborer, or even a savvy politician, has been gifted with some infallible logic that allows him to determine what the common good really is. And any candid observation of our government will reveal that the self-interest of our public servants, and what they purport as the common good, are actually the same thing.
So befuddled was I by the curious suggestion that governments exist solely to promote an entirely subjective ideal that I consulted the document that created the United States: the Declaration of Independence. Here's what I found: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. ? That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed..." Our forefathers thought the purpose of government was obvious.
So it seems that the American government does not exist solely to promote the common good but instead, it exists to protect our natural rights. But what exactly do our rights entail? Do we deserve something for nothing? Do we have a right to a home? Do we have a right to health insurance? These questions are hard to answer, but methinks the ole DOI is a good place to start.
Life. Every man, woman, and child has the right to live. That one is pretty cut and dry until you need to define when life begins.
Liberty. This is a bit more complex. It is based on the property of self-ownership. You own your body and you own the products of your labor. If you create something you are entitled to it. No one may take property from you without consent, nor may they hire another entity to take your property without your consent. In return you may not infringe on other people's liberty.
Lastly, is the pursuit, with emphasis on pursuit, of happiness. Whereas some may believe that living in the United States entitles you to happiness, it would seem more prudent to admit that your citizenship grants you only the right to pursue happiness. It will not, nor can it, give you happiness. This means that the government must allow its citizens to make decisions on their own. If they make good decisions they will be rewarded by the free market; consequently, they will be punished for making bad decisions. The government can only create incentive schemes that encourage relatively good decision making (a tobacco tax, for instance).
All these things can be accomplished with limited government. The alternative is our current bureaucracy that places far too much power in the hands of unelected men. It is safe to assume, then, that the bureaucrat's interests undoubtedly alter the resulting policy. The only way to prevent the interests of man from corrupting the government is through an extensive separation of power and a solid belief in the eternal nature of the constitution.
Lacking adequate separation of power, we are vulnerable to factional interests who have induced the government to promote their version of the common good, a process which unnecessarily expanded both the size and the cost of our government.
The solution is not small, or weak, government, but limited government.
For too long the people of this great nation have been misled into believing the government can achieve that which is impossible. The government does not have the ability to make us all happy; it does not have the wisdom to promote the common good; and it cannot make us equal because we already are. We are equal in freedom and will never be equal in ability. Rather than look to the system as the root of our problems, we should be satisfied we are alive, free, and can still decide how we will pursue our own idea of happiness.