Posted on 01/15/2005 4:51:11 PM PST by cougar_mccxxi
Why We're A Divided Nation by Walter E. Williams
Recent elections pointed to deepening divisions among American people but has anyone given serious thought to just why? I have part of the answer that starts off with a simple example.
Different Americans have different and intensive preferences for cars, food, clothing and entertainment. For example, some Americans love opera and hate rock and roll. Others have opposite preferences, loving rock and roll and hating opera. When's the last time you heard of rock and roll lovers in conflict with opera lovers? It seldom if ever happens. Why? Those who love operas get what they want and those who love rock and roll get what they want and both can live in peace with one another.
Suppose that instead of freedom in the music market, decisions on what kind of music people could listen to were made in the political arena. It would be either opera or rock and roll. Rock and rollers would be lined up against opera lovers. Why? It's simple. If the opera lovers win, rock and rollers would lose and the reverse if rock and rollers won. Conflict would emerge solely because the decision was made in the political arena.
The prime feature of political decision-making is that it's a zero-sum game. One person or group's gain is of necessity another person or group's loss. As such political allocation of resources is conflict enhancing while market allocation is conflict reducing. The greater the number of decisions made in the political arena the greater is the potential for conflict.
There are other implications of political decision-making. Throughout most of our history we've lived in relative harmony. That's remarkable because just about every religion, racial and ethnic group in the world is represented in our country. These are the very racial/ethnic/religious groups that have for centuries been trying to slaughter one another in their home countries, among them: Turks and Armenians, Protestant and Catholic, Muslim and Jew, Croats and Serbs. While we haven't been a perfect nation, there have been no cases of mass genocide and religious wars that have plagued the globe elsewhere. The closest we've come was the American Indian/European conflict that pales by comparison.
The reason we've been able to live in relative harmony is that for most of our history government was small. There wasn't much pie to distribute politically.
When it's the political arena that determines who gets what goodies, the most effective coalitions are those with a proven record of being the most divisive - those based on race, ethnicity, religion and region. As a matter of fact our most costly conflict involved a coalition based upon region - namely the War of 1861.
Many of the issues that divide us, aside from the Iraq war, are those best described as a zero-sum game where one group's gain is of necessity another's loss. Examples are: racial preferences, social security, tax policy, trade restrictions, welfare and a host of other government policies that benefit one American at the expense of another American.
You might be tempted to think that the brutal domestic conflict seen in other countries at other times can't happen here. That's nonsense. Americans are not super-humans; we possess the same frailties of other people in other places. If there were a severe economic calamity, I can imagine a political hustler exploiting those frailties, just as Hitler did in Germany, blaming it on the Jews, the blacks, the East Coast, Catholics or free trade.
The best thing the President and Congress can do to heal our country is to reduce the impact of government on our lives. Doing so will not only produce a less divided country, greater economic efficiency but bear greater faith and allegiance to the vision of America held by our Founders - a country of limited government.
Walter E. Williams
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Dr. Williams hasn't been following the Kid Rock discussion on FR, has he?
Good article. Thanks for posting it.
Dr. Williams' point is when government plays the umpire, someone has to win and someone has to lose. When that happens, conflict over who gets what is bound to ensue.
He is really great.
Yeah, I got that--but it was kind of ironic in light of recent FR discussion, that's all. (c8
Very astute observation by Dr. Williams!
Is anyone else sick and tired about hearing about this divided nation crap? For the first time since 1988 we have a president who gained more than 50% of the vote. Why didn't any pundits in '92 and '96 cry this divided nation garbage?
The problem with Dr. Williams thesis is this:
Liberals, by their very nature want more government intrusion into the way people live their lives, whereas Conservatives want less government intrusion.
Until liberals become unafraid of being responsible for their actions, they will continue to want big government.
"The best thing the President and Congress can do to heal our country is to reduce the impact of government on our lives. Doing so will not only produce a less divided country, greater economic efficiency but bear greater faith and allegiance to the vision of America held by our Founders - a country of limited government." ~ Walter E. Williams
D@mn you, Dr. Williams! I absolutely hate it when you make sense of my little world. You make me want to be a better person for the common good...but d@mn it's hard to give those dopey socialists so much as an inch!
What more can be said? When Dr Williams speaks, it's well worth listening!
His point is a good argument for Federalism and more power going back to the States and their individuality. Perfect example is Roe v. Wade. SCOTUS made the decision for everyone.
The best thing the President and Congress could do is to strengthen and enforce immigration laws.
Appears he's earned the title of "Doctor"
Liberals, by their very nature want more government intrusion into the way people live their lives..Not quite so..they want more government intrusion into the way "OTHER" people live their lives!...If it intrudes on them they cry like hell!!
The prime feature of political decision-making is that it's a zero-sum game. One person or group's gain is of necessity another person or group's loss. As such political allocation of resources is conflict enhancing while market allocation is conflict reducing. The greater the number of decisions made in the political arena the greater is the potential for conflict.
But in the past 10 years, the percentage of people who don't believe in God has gone from about 10% to 20%. Add to that the dividing power of Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and the Mexican dividers (MALDEF, LULAC, and Mecha), and we have far more division in this country than we ever had before. They compound the financial divisions between Libs and Conservatives.
To: ZULU; hosepipe
To defeat a nation without violent war, you must promote rapid diversity. By allowing a massive immigrant population into a country, legal and illegal, you prevent assimilation by the new immigrants.
By not being selective in whom you allow into your country, you will get many low intelligence people. These people do not want to live next to a strange ethnic race. Therefore they will start small communities of their own.
You must divide what was the once accepted family unit, (homosexuals and bisexuals are accepted now), bring changes to public speech,(today everything said must be politically acceptable).
Attack the common religions, notice the constant media attacks on the Jews and Catholics, promote Buddhism and Muslim religions into schools and communities.
Change the common cultures, children in public schools are being taught the cultures of different races and that they should accept them.
Bring uncertainty and fear to everyone, Afghanistan & Iraq wars, potential terrorists attacks.
Bring political change throughout the nation, now the chant is to vote for Bush because he's "not-quite-as-socialist" as Kerry.
All of this is happening "under God", because citizens will not fight to keep America a Republic.
23 posted on 05/02/2004 11:31:54 AM PDT by B4Ranch ( If everything appears to be going well, you obviously don't know what the hell is going on.)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1127201/posts?page=23#23
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