Seeds of Opression; R. Hood

.. .... .. ' ROBERT E. HOOD .. , . , " ~ . ·SEEDSOF OPPRESSION INSTEAD of my reaching directly into your pocket for some worthy cause of my choice, suppose I first muster a majority to gain legal sanction for my ambitions. Thus are clearly criminal acts draped in a mantle of benevolence. , Such is essentially the process in volved whenever government is al lowed to concern itself with redis tribution of wealth programs such as welfare, subsidized housing, job training, ad infinitum. The will of some must be subjugated to the will of the majority and their prop erty expropriated to satisfy the whims of that majority. This, by some rather irrational semantical juggling, has come to be known as Progressive legisla tion. If our goal is to be a totali tarian socialist state then it is in deed progressive in the literal sense of the word, but to the best The Honorable Robert E. Hood of Laconia is a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives.

of my knowledge we are still at least paying lip service to freedom in this country. "Well surely," comes the rejoin der, "government has a responsibil ity to care for those who are truly in need - if only we could stop the abuses." In a free society govern ment does not have that responsi bility, and never did; and as long as it involves itself in so-called so cial legislation there will be abuses and there will be waste and over staffing. These problems are an in herent and inexorable part of its involvement. Before you conjure up visions of the sick and elderly dropping in the streets and public works trucks making the rounds each morning to pick up the bodies and deposit them in common paupers' graves, please remind yourself that almost all of this "progressive" legislation has evolved only in very recent years. Prior to our "enlighten ment" we depended on private 307 308 THE FREEMAN May charities and on individual respon sibility, and we still do in many areas that have not as yet come under the benevolent eye of bu reaucrats. How far would I get if I took my tin cup in hand today and went door to door in an attempt to raise money for AFDC mothers?

However, if government was not involved in this area, I am certain that no children would starve or want for clothing. Churches and private charities would readily fill the gap and there would be no abuse. What a terribly malevolent view of mankind one must have to as sume that the coercive power of government must be applied in or der to alleviate human suffering. Democratic Illusions How has this sovereign status of the majority come about? Perhaps the main reason could be that many of us are under the impression that America is a democracy. Had the founding fathers established a pure democracy, the history of this country would have been relegated to a rather tempestuous and brief period at the close of the eigh teenth century. Pure democracy mob rule, in simpler terms - is per haps the least stable form of gov ernment .ever devised. America is a constitutional re public and it is the Constitution which draws the line on democracy.

We might be described as a repre sentative democracy but only with in the limits provided by our Con stitution. Thomas Jefferson is often quoted in defense of a sov ereign majority as saying, "The will of the majority is in all cases to prevail." He did indeed say it but the statement is taken out of context. Jefferson immediately added, "- that will, to be rightful, must be reasonable; the minority possess their equal rights, which equal laws must protect, and to violate would be oppression." So it would seem that the rights of majorities must be severely limited if a free society is to en dure; sovereignty lies with each individual rather than in any col'lective form. It is the sovereign right of each individual to life, lib erty, and property that must in deed be inalienable. It necessarily follows then that no individual, no mob, no collective, and no govern ment has a moral claim against the property of anyone, no matter how lofty the intent. The proper func tion of government in a free soci ety is limited to the defense and protection of the inalienable rights of each citizen ; governments may be instituted for no other purpose without inevitably becoming op pressive. ~ HI FREDERIC BASTIAT "Explain to me the functioning and the effects of protec tionism."