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June 02, 2003

My Axioms; First Look

“Well I believe in the soul; the c_ck; the p_ssy; the small of a woman’s back; the hanging curve ball, high fiver, good scotch, that the novels of Susan Sontag are self-indulgent overrated crap. I believe Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. I believe there ought to be a Constitutional amendment outlawing Astroturf and the designated hitter. I believe in the sweet spot, soft core pornography, opening your presents Christmas morning rather than Christmas Eve, and I believe in long slow deep soft wet kisses that last three days.”

Crash Davis knew how to establish his axioms out front, and there’s probably no better layout of personal beliefs than the rant given by Kevin Costner in the great “Bull Durham.” Unfortunately, no matter how hard I try, I can’t boil my own philosophy into something quite so succinct. But I’ll try.

My core belief is simplicity itself: personal freedom should be maximized whenever possible without infringing on others’ rights. So, for example, while I certainly support laws against murder, rape, and theft (among others), I am opposed to laws that outlaw smoking in public places or take people’s homes away in the name of the ‘greater good.’ It’s my belief that the world will be far better off when people are left alone to do what they want, whatever that may be. I think that’s what Jefferson had in mind when he noted the inalienable right to pursue happiness: we all have the right to do whatever makes us happy, as long as it doesn’t infringe on anyone else. (And by infringe, I mean more than just hurt their feelings.)

Springing from that is my belief that government should be sharply limited. Every law government passes takes freedom away from someone. We live together, so we’re stuck with a certain minimum level of laws to preserve our society; in particular, federal defense forces and local police forces are governmental powers that I can live with, albeit reluctantly. But my basic reaction to any new law is to oppose it. I may change my mind occasionally, but for my money we’ve got far too many laws on the books now. Before we institute new bad laws, let’s trim down some of the other bad laws.

Why do I say bad laws? Because the odds are pretty good that’s what they will be. Let’s take a look at some government programs. Social security, originally intended to provide a measure of support to a tiny fraction of the population, now looms as a massive disaster on the horizon, as our ever-increasing promises to pay finally come due. How about education, where we spend far more federal dollars per student than thirty years ago with no visible effects on the results? Federal programs, almost invariably, fail to work, because they don’t have to. The FBI has been a hotbed of errors over the past decade, and the response by Congress has been to increase their funding. NASA’s primary contribution to space flight is doing its best to hold it back, and they get more money every year as well. Because government programs don’t need to succeed in order to survive, they don’t. Therefore, I’m extremely leery of using government to promote anything beyond defense.

This leads to my desire to see government kept as small as possible. The larger government grows, the more harm it does to all of us. There are still mohair subsidies on the books from the First World War, and rent control and income tax withholding have managed to long outlast their ‘temporary’ imposition during the Second World War. Once a government program is created, it never dies. Even Ronald Reagan, the great conservative hero, left office by expanding the Cabinet to include two new offices. A bit of a letdown after his promises to shrink government. Therefore, it’s crucial that we don’t allow new government programs to be created if at all possible. They won’t work, and they’ll never die, meaning all they do is benefit those people employed in them. I don’t see it as the government’s job to serve as a jobs program.

Why not? Because ultimately everyone is responsible for themselves. I won’t deny that all of us have certain advantages and disadvantages. It’s certainly unlikely that I would be where I am today if not for the advantages my parents’ hard work provided for me. And certainly people born in slums, with one or no parents and little or no money or property to their name have an incredibly steep hill to climb. But we’ve still all got to take responsibility for ourselves. Poor people have been overcoming poverty since the invention of money, and rich kids have squandered their advantages since the dawn of time. Pointing to circumstances and complain that life isn’t fair may have the advantage of being true, but it won’t put food on the table or a roof over your head. Only hard work and determination can do that. I have all the sympathy in the world for people who try and fight through difficult circumstances. I have none at all for those who look at their cards, decide they were dealt a crappy hand, and fold.

Which leads me to my final axiom: it’s important for all of us to help our fellows. Some may see this as a repudiation of my earlier axioms, or a serious case of cognitive dissonance, and perhaps they’re right. But while I believe we all have a duty to help those less fortunate than us, I also believe that there is no justification for forcing that duty on those who opt out of it. Robert E. Lee called duty the most sublime word in the English language, and I think he hit the nail right on the head. I think it of great importance that everyone understand and do their duty, but I don’t think I can force them to do either. More importantly, I wouldn’t try. I can think of little more offensive than the idea that Osama bin Laden and his henchmen might be permitted to enforce their moral beliefs on me; why on Earth would I support imposing mine on others? I would like to see us all do what we can to reach out and help others, but I would not impose that burden on any who chose not to accept it, whether on my own or through government intervention.

I’m sure that there are other axioms that are integral to my thinking which I have yet to reveal, and I’ll do my best to keep this list updated. But this seems a reasonable starting point for understanding where I’m coming from. Let the arguments begin.