The Case for Saying No; J. Hochderffer

THE CASE FOR SAYING NO THE SPEAKER was saying: "And in conclusion, ladies and gentlemen, let's be progressive. Let us shake off our lethargy to meet the challenges of our time. Let us em bark upon bold new ventures in the face of the dark fears of our age. Let us free the world from want, from misery, from need. Let us shun those who would put their own selfish interests before the welfare of man kind. Let us ignore those knaves of negativism who have become apathetic to the problems of their fellow men and who wallow in their own wealth and greed. Let us push forward into new frontiers. Let us be positive." The speaker was saying this last night at a meeting of the League of Women Voters. He was saying it this noon at a Rotary luncheon. He was saying it before the PTA, the Chamber of Commerce, the AFL-CIO local, the Urban League, the United Chest Council, and before all the Federations of Progressive Dogooders who have been federated for progressive causes across the length and breadth of this nation of ours. "Let us be positive," he was saying, and saying, and saying.

Mr. Hochderffer is Staff Executive of the Chamber of Commerce of Fort Wayne, Indiana. 230 THE CASE FOR SAYING NO 231 A thousand times I have sat through this speech urg ing me to get positive. I have mapped political cam paigns where we have spent days trying to write a "posi tive" platform and have ended up saying, not what we wanted to say, but something else entirely, simply be cause we had to be "positive:' I have labored for days drawing up a position for our Chamber of Commerce to take on pending legislation, only to have some mem ber of the board of directors-who arrived late for the meeting-stand up and say: "That's okay, but it's too negative." As a member of a college faculty, I have been urged to take a "positive" approach toward the discipline prob lem-whatever the positive approach toward discipline might be. As a parent I have been cautioned not to pun ish but to set a "positive" example for my children. I have been "positived" sick. Of that you can be positively positive.

I don't know when the positive bug bit us, but we have become a nation of "yes" men. To be modern is to be positive. If you're against even the wildest govern ment spending scheme, you're opposed to progress. If you take a stand against welfare benefits, you hate your fellow man. You're unchristian, in fact. If you question whether the social security system is a proper function of government, you're a purple people-hater. You've got to be tor something. Or else you're an "anti." You're old fashioned. You're not with it, brother, with it. I am sure I will be shunned by the progressives, ig nored by the positives, treated as a leper by the pro232 JOE HOCHDERFFER gressive positives, ridiculed by the positive progressives, pitied by the progressive progressives, and positively de spised by the positive positives. Nevertheless, I take my stand. Let's get negative. On the Offensive Please note that as I develop my argument, I shall be on the defensive. That suits me. It states my position clearly and classifies my opponents exactly as I think they are.

Maybe our generation of "yes" men would change the rules. In debates, for example, we would have the affirm ative side and the more affirmative side, or the almost affirmative side. "Give me a straight answer," we'd say; "is it yes or hell, yes?" Yes, we have yes bananas. Ba loney! I'm "agin" the "yes" men. With the current definition of progress being. all the high-minded schemes of god mother government, state welfarism, federal aid, gim micks, handouts, subsidies, and supports, I am opposed to progress. I am anti-big government. I am against So cial Security and the progressive income tax. I say "no" to price supports or wage controls of any kind. I am not unchristian or anti-American. I am not a "yes" man. And I am not alone. Pardon me while I call off the names of the players on my team. "Washington, Hamilton, Franklin, Madison, Rutledge, Pinckney . . ." They signed the Constitution. RememTHE CASE FOR SAYING NO 233 ber it? The greatest document for freedom ever devised by man. It's negative from the word "no."

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. In those days the freedom founders knew you didn't have to be for something by spelling out a positive pro gressive program. You had to be suspicious of big gov ernment and you limited it by spelling out what it could not do. Man then was free to go about his own business in his own way, so long as he did not infringe on the rights of his fellow man. Let's see what else our team's first string said: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated . . . nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation ... Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted ... The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people . . . The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion to the Census or Enumeration here in before directed to be taken.

The Constitution is just one big loud "no" to all ef forts of the state to interfere with the God-given rights of free men.

234 JOE HOCHDERFFER The Ten Command111ents Any more support? Some. From a fellow named M?ses. He carried a message from God to the children of Israel. Remember it? It's negative, nine to one. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make yourself a graven image, or any like ness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and the fourth genera tion of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work; but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your manservant, or your maidservant, or your cattle, or the sojourner who is within your gates; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it.

Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God gives you. You shall not kill. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant, or his maid servant, or his ox, or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor's.

THE CASE FOR SAYING NO 235 Of the Ten Commandments, only "Honor your father and your mother" contains no negatives. God's directives spelled out what his people should not do, thus leaving them a wide latitude of choice for their "positive" pro grams of life. Incidentally, the Ten Commandments didn't run into trouble until the amendments and court decisions started cluttering them up with positive, pro gressive hogwash. Some Other Samplings of Christian Negatives Was it our speaker back at the beginning who called our negative attitude "unchristian"? Let us see what kind of a "yes" man Christ was. One of his earliest recorded statements was to Satan in the wilderness. "Thou shall not/' he told Satan, "tempt the Lord thy God." And through the gospels: Man shall not live by bread alone. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. Take heed that you do not your alms before men to be seen of them.

Let not thy left hand knoweth what thy right hand doeth. Be not like the hypocrites. When you pray, use not vain repetitions. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth. No man can serve two masters . . . you cannot serve God and mammon too. Judge not that you be not judged. I am not come to call the righteous.

236 JOE HOCHDERFFER He that taketh not his cross and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. Re that is not with me is against me. There shall be no sign given unto this generation. Christ doesn't layout any planned way of life for his disciples. How humdrum! He cautions them on what not to do, thus making them the freest men possible. The recorded words of Christ contain more negative statements. "Fear not" is one of the most oft-repeated quotes of our Saviour. "Lead us not into temptation," he teaches us in his prayer. We begin married life with his words ringing in our ears: "What God has joined together, let not man put asunder." What better golden rule in our family life than "Suffer little children and forbid them not to come unto me"? UNot as I will," said Christ in Gethsemane. And, fi nally, on the cross: "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." Instead of "No taxation without representation" as the freedom clarion of the American colonists that was louder than the shot heard around the world, suppose they had said: "Let us have taxation as long as you let us have representation."

Case rests.