Friday, February 5, 2010

Beware the Bigs

Once, about a half century ago I watched some hammerhead sharks eat some guys. It was a nasty business. The killing and eating did not proceed in series, but rather in parallel. Watching the sharks at their meal made me angry. There was irony in that since just a few minutes before, I had been trying to kill the same guys. But the irony did not sink in at the time, and to this day, if somebody came up with a plan to kill every last man-eating shark on the planet, I would be for it, bio-diversity and endangered species be damned.

I'm told the same emotions are evoked in even the most liberal of tree huggers when they see wolves at work doing what they were designed to do. Strange that they are so beautiful when they are not tearing a moose apart.

The lesson is that it is the nature of sharks, and wolves, and even cuddly white polar bears to eat you if they can. The less there is of this in your life's experience the happier you will be, but perhaps without a little bit of such, we tend to be naive.

As I try to find my way in the twisting and shifting political world of the moment, it is helpful to understand the nature of sharks and wolves and bears. They are going to do what they are going to do, according to their nature. I'm a conservative so I am obligated to say that they are welcomed to that provided I can stay out of their way.

There are not many sharks in my life these days, but there are other things. For example, I'm learning that I don't like Big. Specifically I don't like:

Big Government
Big Banking
Big Business
Big Unions
Big Political Parties

The interesting thing is that I think all of these Bigs are necessary. It might be better if the Bigs were small, but one of the problems with the way the world works is that success tends to make Bigs out of Smalls, so eventually some of these entities will be big. Anyway, how they were wrought does not matter so much. There they are ..., and they are big. And, they have a particular nature. The Bigs are all entities that seek money and power. Arguably, Big Banking, and Big Business can make money, but Big Government, Big Unions, and Big Political Parties don't create any wealth at all. They must take it from the people. In fact, that is their nature and they are good at it.

Even Big Banking and Big Business may tend to eye you more like lunch than someone to take to lunch if you catch them "in the act of being themselves".

The Bigs have three other characteristics in common. They are all top-down bureaucracies. They all crave money and power, and like all big things, they are not easy to feed. They need a lot of money and power just to continue to exist. Not surprisingly the Bigs that have been around a while are very good at getting fed.

You and I, as citizens, need to keep a wary eye on the Bigs. We can't simply avoid them as we might avoid sharks. We must go "in among them" as a part of our daily lives while carefully watching them all the time, never trusting any Big.

The best protection we have is the Constitution, and that part of the body of law that constrains their activities and limits their power. We would do well to keep these protections cleaned, well oiled, and loaded like the rifle we might keep nearby to even the odds should we encounter a bear that thinks we are lunch.

Not surprisingly, the Obamunists and other Big Government liberals don't like the Constitution. It is really in their way. They don't like democracy for the same reason. It is in their way too. Hell, they don't even like the country. They are always apologizing for it. They desperately need to make it a different thing.

If we let them have enough power, they would eliminate the constraints of the constitution, and even democracy itself. Their attitude is they know best, and we the people are just too stupid to understand the wisdom of their program and agenda. They see the value in the citizens... we the people. We are the ones that create the wealth that they have such an appetite for. We are the ones that grant them the power they are so addicted to. They might mumble something about the "consent of the governed" to justify what they get from us.

The Bigs are no different than the sharks, and wolves and bears. It is their nature to be what they are. It is their nature to resent any constraints that are placed upon them. It is their nature to tell us that they are our friend.

But have a care ..... that is just so they can get closer.

Jerry

1 comment:

watchbird1 said...

Jerry, you are so readable. And so right.