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© Guy F. Hendrickson www.advocatefreedom.com The state of affairs of mankind is presently in great turmoil, and the state of internal affairs in the United States is particularly disturbing. We have experienced rapid changes of our social conditions because of extremely rapid changes of population, technology, and economic equilibrium. We seem to be avidly trying to push onward in the same direction --apparently holding to the notion that additional "progress" in this direction will magically provide solutions to the problems we generate. Our usual approach to these problems is to consider the "rational" choices briefly, then quickly proceed. Those "rational" choices are usually of the "lesser of two evils" nature, which enables us to evade consideration of the root source of the problems. --But to deal only with the immediate aspects of problems seems to be our only recourse, for to delve to deeper levels is too time consuming and may cause us to be regarded as an idealist or daydreamer or obstructionist or revolutionist, or some other troublesome or supposedly atrocious creature. To avoid this, we expeditiously make shallow and relatively inconsequential decisions because this is the "rational" behavior The System demands. The definition of rationality we will use throughout this book is: To be rational is to endeavor to be aware of reality to the limits of our ability to comprehend, then to at all levels make those decisions which will lead us in the direction of the greatest long-range overall human benefit. Anything short of that must therefore be irrational. (For example; while our system has enabled us to achieve amazing "progress," and has brought us to our present state of development, it would not be rational to presume that to continue blindly onward will magically lead to some utopian future destination.) In addition, we can't reconcile the expectations of our earlier years with the actuality of the present, for it seems that the same rules don't apply. Whole generations believe that prior generations have either fed them lies or are naively unaware of current realities and are blindly clinging to the obsolete notions of yesteryear. It is difficult to understand that the old ways have ceased to be functional within the span of single generations --which creates a "generation gap," and presents us with startling evidence of the rapidity with which The System has taken control. The System has assumed directorial control of the affairs of our nation by insidiously eroding our rights of individual choice and expression, and is therefore probably the main reason we experience these disconcerting feelings of ineffectuality and lack of directional foresight. Difficult to cope with because it is intangible, The System is our "Frankenstein's Monster," for we created it but find we cannot control it by continuing to apply the same methods we employed in its creation. It was not created by the Declaration of Independence, by the Constitution, nor by intentional contrivance of the Citizenry; nor was it created directly by the "evil minds" of those who would be rich or powerful (although they may have contributed). It is not a predictable, nor even reasonably likely, development of a democratic capitalistic free enterprise system so long as ill-conceived legislation does not interfere with the political processes or with the natural cause-effect, supply-demand checks and balances of the economy. --Nor is The System an intelligent entity. It is an effect produced by the cumulative interaction of economic mathematics and legislated law, aided and abetted by irrational attitudes, politics, selfishness, ignorance and apathy. --An interaction so complex that our most prestigious experts are seldom in agreement about what is happening, or what might be done to instigate desirable changes. This ability of The System to control us was generated by the combination of interferences we have imposed directly and indirectly, knowingly or inadvertently, well-intentioned or otherwise, which have abnegated the basic principles of free enterprise and equal opportunity. It has manifested through rampant and inequitable taxation, failure to enforce anti-trust law, military-industrial defense spending aberrations, artificial manipulation of the money supply, and various and sundry other forms of governmental malfeasance. But The System is here, it is real, and we must either surrender to its purposeless subjugation of humanity or else discover and initiate a plan of action to regain rational control. This bus was constructed by our ancestors. It was built from necessity, for without it we would have gotten nowhere. The men who put it together were especially gifted craftsmen whose genius is only now beginning to be appreciated, for from the materials then available they built a vehicle which is still functioning two hundred years later! The secret of their great success was the design of the frame and of the ingenious steering and power control mechanisms they contrived. Nothing comparable had ever before been conceived by the minds of men. Earlier social vehicles had always been unwieldy and difficult to steer, were likely to cease to function or to explode if the driver was not strong and alert, and the propelling mechanisms had always been erratic in their power output. But this vehicle our forefathers designed would respond to the Will of the Majority of its passengers, and included built-in safety systems. The passengers needed only utilize the election mechanism to select those who would implement the Majority Will. Those selected would then co-ordinate their actions at the controls --each having a specific assignment-- and with beautiful ease the vehicle would respond. No lone individual, nor any small group of conspirators, could monopolize the controls, for the co-ordinated interaction of all those selected by the Majority was required to operate the vehicle. As time passed, the number of passengers increased because we believed that every person who desired to participate in our adventure should be entitled to go along. As the bus filled, we made some minor changes in seating arrangements and found new ways to distribute supplies and reapportion space among all the passengers. We even made a few alterations to the shape of the body to provide more comfort and convenience. Meanwhile, those operating the power and steering mechanisms so enjoyed the praise and appreciation they were accorded that they began to find clever ways to alter various components to further enhance the importance of their positions. If they realized that the safety devices were interconnected with the steering or the power distribution systems, they didn't seem to believe they were causing any harm. Simultaneously, the passengers had come to hold the drivers in such high esteem that they ceased to be concerned about their destination --the ride itself had become pleasure enough. As time went on, the drivers came to be relied upon to decide who should monitor the safety devices, to determine the seating arrangements, and to decide which roads to follow. Among the passengers there were some who wanted to push the throttle, others who would bid for the opportunity to supply fuel or install the electrical system or contract to provide mechanical parts. --But most were content to simply enjoy the trip. We who are here now have been riding this bus all our lives, just as our parents did before us. We've managed to keep ourselves busy by collecting piles of souvenirs, by inventing a great number of interesting games to play, and by thinking about new and different ways to enjoy sex. We've enjoyed ourselves immensely. But just recently we've all begun to notice that the ride has become a bit bumpy. The scenery seems to have changed, the air carries peculiar odors, the water doesn't taste as good as before, the cost of almost everything has risen, we've had to slow down to conserve fuel, the heater has threatened to quit working, we're overcrowded, condoms are inadequate, and the brakes aren't working very well. It seems that several generations of drivers have monkeyed with the checks and balances of the safety systems a bit too much during the process of dividing the sub-systems so some of their favorite passengers could take full control of the souvenir sales and the fuel and parts supply systems. Hard-to-steer big wheels have somehow gotten onto the front of our bus, and the smaller wheels in the rear must run faster to maintain our speed. This also makes it more difficult to see where we're going, wastes a lot of energy, and causes the whole vehicle to lurch up and down and from side to side. Rather than responding to our wishes in the prescribed manner, the big wheels have several times steered us in an unexpected direction. Nobody seems to know how to interchange the wheels; and the steering committee can't reach a consensus about which way we should go, so they’ve failed to bring us back onto any good road. Indeed, there are only a few passengers who have ever given any thought to where we're supposed to be going. The older passengers all say that when they were younger the bus always went uphill, but that now we seem to be going downhill. They don't know when the change occurred, partly because no-one knows when the big wheels were put on the front, --nor why they were. Now we've noticed the motor sputtering, and any back-fire may set fire to this woods we're in; --and we probably couldn't outrun any fire we might start. Because nobody seems to know what to do about this situation, we're going to continue meandering down this bumpy road until we run out of fuel, catch the woods afire, freeze, asphyxiate, dehydrate, come to a narrow bridge or bump or curve we can't negotiate, or the brakes or steering fail completely and cause us to have a fatal crash. If we would only examine our vehicle more closely, however, we might discover some things we have overlooked. The designers of this vehicle were very farsighted men. They didn't design-in any deliberate obsoletion. In fact, they designed this vehicle to be very adaptable. They even equipped it with the tools and extra materials to make needed alterations. You see, when our vehicle was initially constructed the road was usually only a rocky, muddy path, and our ancestors could see that they were at the beginning of a long uphill climb. We'll only begin to appreciate their wisdom and foresight when we examine the components they installed. We might first endeavor to comprehend their motives and intentions to be sure we haven't overlooked any potentially helpful information. After that, we might request input of the latest knowledge from experts in all fields, then make full use of all the skills available to incorporate the best ideas into the redesign of our vehicle. We might also look to ancient history for applicable knowledge. --But, although there are many case histories of social and political structures we might examine, they were all failures! (If they had been viable they would still exist.) Many of these societies have been self-destructive, while many functioned successfully only until they were inundated by another with which they were not prepared to cope. Most of their economic structures had a tendency to demean the individuals within, except for small elite groups, by permitting greed to be more rewarding than productive effort. --And these historic societies with which we try to make comparisons have never approached our size or complexity, which further frustrates any attempt to derive applicable concepts. Our examination seems only to yield a list of pitfalls to be avoided. --For instance, much of history is a compendium of acts of greed and selfishness, and many writings have alluded to these as inherent homo sapien traits. However, an objective survey of all this material leads to the impression that Man has nearly always opted for whatever seemed to be of greatest immediate benefit to himself. He has usually been very shortsighted (read irrational). But that humans have historically survived the most oppressive imaginable conditions and are still here trying, however self-destructively, says much for the adaptability of our species. --We should quite readily adapt to an improving situation. Furthermore, the fact that our government still exists after two hundred years may indicate that our founding fathers were on the right path, and that they may have had a deeper knowledge and understanding of the kind of social vehicle humans require than we have yet learned to appreciate. They may only have been limited by circumstance and technology. In short, Man has never faced the same dilemmas nor possessed the sophisticated tools we have today. It is obvious that if we are to modernize our social vehicle rational innovation will be necessary. By applying some of our recently acquired knowledge and technology as we renovate our social vehicle perhaps we can incorporate features that will ensure that it will never again fall victim to obsoletion through the ravages of simple neglect. Some of the changes we might make during this process may only require the rebuilding of worn and tired parts, while innovation may beget amazing improvements in other areas. But it will be essential that we maintain constant awareness of the basic framework with which we work, and that we be pre-agreed upon the end-result we desire to achieve. When all the possibilities have been considered, we should then try to correlate them in a way most likely to provide the greatest long-range overall human benefit. It is obvious that this is our only rational option. To be rational, social or technological "progress" may only be expressed in terms of real human benefit; innately implying that the welfare of all of humanity must be considered. To evaluate or measure social or technological progress in terms of any lesser inclusiveness is deceptive and irrational, and is therefore immoral. It is obvious also that when "progress" is measured in dollar values which are not directly related to the value of human time and productivity, both "progress" and "value" become meaningless words. Therefore, because our present economic system has no way to correlate that value relationship, our currency has become only a means of exchanging unfathomable values; --which has permitted all values to become arbitrary and false. The unpalatable truth is that most of our so-called "progress" has been the consequence of the inequitable exchange of such false values, which has permitted "progress" for some groups only through the exploitation of others. To avert such irrational effects, the ideas we will be considering here will have as their premise that the equal value of each human life is the only absolutely inalterable value, and that this equal value of each human life is thus the only rational commonality upon which to base our socio-economic system. Yet, although our fundamental commonality is therefore the equal value of our time, the value of our productive efforts varies from person to person depending upon skill and/or knowledge, upon strength or degree of effort, and upon the perceived value of our product. Consequently, in this hypothetical construct the economic system [money] must be no more than a convenient tool to facilitate and ensure the fair exchange of the genuine values generated by productive investment of human time and effort. If we could devise a valid and efficient method to measure and designate such values we would be better able to determine the fairest and most rational seating arrangement for our new social vehicle. That is, by tying our fundamental commonality (time) together with the value of our productivity we could establish a real value for our currency, thereby enabling our economic commonality (money) to become representative of human values. This might then automatically enable the passengers of our bus to be re-situated in areas where they could most efficiently perform the tasks at which they were the most proficient, enable all to participate, eliminate much of the confusion and inconvenience, and distribute the loading so the vehicle would handle more responsively. In this process of rebuilding our vehicle to modern specifications we may also be enabled to exclude mechanisms which throw off sparks or generate back-fires capable of igniting planetary catastrophes. Real progress toward our mutually agreed destination might then become a journey enjoyable for all. Technology has recently made possible a tool that may enable us to integrate and efficiently implement both our most idealistic political philosophy and such a simplified, more rational, economic concept. (This might be viewed as the restoration of the framework, and the redesign and rebuilding of the steering mechanism and powertrain of our social vehicle.) Versions of all the components of this amazing tool are already in mass production. We need only assemble them in the appropriate configuration to create the most useful tool Man has ever devised. But, as with many sophisticated tools, misuse can be either ineffectual or catastrophic, so to be rational we must design the tool to fit the job. Therefore, let us first clarify the task we wish to undertake...... © 2001 G.F.H. |