Limited Government; S. Daskal

Steven E. Daskal LimitedGovernment -and the Stability of Nations THE importance of limited govern ment to the cause of individual lib erty has often been discussed in these pages. In short, limited government allows for maximum individual freedom and self actualization, free from coercion. To paraphrase Thomas Jefferson, gov ernment is a necessary evil; usually, the less of it, the better. Limited government is intimately connected with a free market econ omy, which allows for the ever changing, infinitely variable nature of human economic activity far bet ter than a series of mathematical predictions, popular "laws," or bu reaucratic regulations. A govern ment that can meddle with market mechanisms has great power, and can always manage to gain even more power through its manipula tions. Similarly, a government that Mr. Daskal of Annandale, Virginia, is a defense sys tems analyst and writer.

is restrained from upsetting the market system is, by definition, lim ited, since a significant portion of all human endeavor can be classified as economic activity, governed by the market rather than by majority rule or government order. To illustrate the power govern ment gains over individual freedom through economic controls, consider the possibility in licensing busi nesses. Most nations, even in "free" nations, require businesses to be li censed, usually as an "innocent" aid in the collection of taxes. However, in many nations, such as Allende's Chile and Sandinista Nicaragua, these licenses have been revoked in the case of certain nonviolent, tax paying businesses. The businesses thus made illegal (and violently forced out of business) were opposi tion newspapers. A seemingly harm less government regulation can be twisted to malevolent ends, without 215 216 THE FREEMAN April a single change in the law. It is safer not to give such power to govern ment than to trust to "traditions" or the "sanctity of human rights." The freedom to own and use property, without specific government permis sion, is the ultimate safeguard of po litical and economic freedom.

Traditions of Freedom The importance of limited govern ments and the free market in other parts of the world is perhaps even more critical than it is in the United States and Canada. We have strong traditio~s of respect for human rights; the American Declaration of Independence holds them to be "self evident" truths, a basic premise that cannot be challenged by thinking people. Our nations have also been blessed by relative peace and stabil ity. Massive upheavals in govern ment are rare; civil wars and rebel lions even rarer. Ethnic and religious chauvinism, though intense at times, has never resulted in major sectarian conflicts. In other parts of the world, the blessings of internal peace and sta bility are much less common. Innu merable countries in Europe, Africa, and Asia have been ripped apart by ethnic, religious, or tribal animosi ties. I suspect that there is some thing common to all of the nations experiencing this terrible, self destructive turmoil and the vicious cycle of violence and repression it has created. The common thread un derlying much of this chaos and war fare is the failure of these peoples to limit government and allow free minds and the free market to en courage development through vol untary cooperation and the process of supply and demand.

Looking at most developing na tions, and even some "developed" in dustrial nations in the rest of the world, one sees a significant lack of limited government and a coincident lack offree market economies. These states are on the same endless tread mill, outlined below, which can be termed the "revolutionary spoils system" of government. (1) The poor, the intelligentsia, the workers, the army, or whomever, revolt; they see no hope of the current system addressing their grievances, and are willing to risk destruction and death to put a "more just" system in place. (2) The revolt becomes a revolution; a new government is created, theoretically or actually representing the group or groups who began the revolt. (3) To get and keep power, these new leaders plan a new system of laws, re organize the economy, and often strip the group previously "on top" of their eco nomic and political liberty. Their prop erty is expropriated, they lose their pri vacy, and their freedom to speak, write, or assemble is limited or eliminated.

(4) This newly disenfrapchised, op pressed class, in a matter of years, or at most generations, begins its own re volt ... returning to step 1.

1985 LIMITED GOVERNMENT 217 Most political historians tend to emphasize steps one and two as the most important. We often stress the "newness" of the revolutionary gov ernment, often missing the fact that whether they are "left" or "right," "Islamic," "Peronist," or "Commu nist," the results are sadly similar. A new privileged elite is created, and is given wealth and power through the forcible theft of the freedom and wealth of other groups ofpeople. The net result is an economic debit, be cause most revolutions cause mas sive destruction of economic assets (farms and crops, homes and facto ries, transportation capital, human workers and inventors) which nei ther winner nor loser can use again. A corollary result is the growing, continual fear of further turmoil, which leads to faulty economic de cisions by both individuals and gov ernments such as investing wealth outside one's own country, investing in portable wealth (gold, gems, for eign currencies), or investing in weapons and security forces needed to keep the elite in power and protect their ill-gotten gains.

This cycle is repeated with infinite variations in dozens ofcountries. The refusal of governments to provide every person equal and honest jus tice and the opportunity of each to make his own course through life inevitably leads to suspicion, ani mosity, and ultimately violence. Repeatedly, when the demands of rebels in these countries are heard, they complain that they have been denied equal opportunity, equal jus tice before the law, equal access to the media, and equal security in their homes and businesses. Whether they be Muslims in Leba non, Turkish Cypriots in Cyprus, Basques in Spain, Palestinians in Is rael, non-Slavs in the Soviet Union, or ethnic Chinese in Vietnam or Uganda, they share common com plaints. They are not allowed to speak their languages, build their businesses, educate their children, and be·.assured of physical security to the same extent that the group in power is. This isn't surprising, since the group in power is busily taking advantage of the oppressed group to improve their own wealth and posi tion rather than giving equal oppor tunity and protection to all.

The solution to these problems is so straightforward, it is amazing that it has not been grasped by the United Nations, or the United States government, and shown to the various "leaders" who wish to restore stability to their countries. The basic concepts are nothing new or alien. They are the concepts de veloped through good sense, intui tion, and experience by our own Founding Fathers. (1) A federal form of national govern ment, allowing for different ethnic, reli gious, or tribal groups to practice their own cultures without oppression or os218 THE FREEMAN tracism within their own autonomous lo cality, while allowing for easy economic and social commerce between these localities. (2) A limited government, that cannot and does not attempt to redistribute wealth or direct activities within the lo calities, except to ensure the basic lib erties essential to legal equality, physical security, and honest business practices in a free economy.

(3) A representative government, with appropriate checks and balances, that al lows individuals to have their views on national issues heard in the highest lev els of the nation, and that allows each group or locality to have equal representation. It is increasingly urgent in our tense, heavily armed world, that the coercive "revolutionary spoils sys tem" be replaced by peaceful, lim ited, federal nations with free mar ket economies and free trade. Only through these essentially peaceful, stable governmental structures will the terrible economic and social bur dens of the developing nations be able to be corrected through balanced economic development. Strong constitutions, with rigid checks and balances, must be instituted to keep out the "spoils seekers," and attract people of good sense and good will into the government and into business. The right of all peoples to main tain their religion, their culture, their heritage, and their language amongst themselves, must be ac knowledged by all governments. The right of each individual to seek his or her own destiny, and be allowed to keep the wealth and property ac crued through honest industry, must also be made sacrosanct. If the na tions of the world fail to recognize these basic realities, they are doomed to endless repetition of the cycle of revolution, destruction, and oppression they have already en dured too long. As the destructive capability of Man becomes greater, this cycle puts the people of all na tions, even those relatively "free" of , the cycle, at ever-increasing risk. ® IDEAS ON LIBERTY Alexander Addison How LITILE do men see, who promote insurrection or revolution, and hope to lead it, that they must soon sink under its force, and be among the first victims of the fury which they excite! However honest may be the views of its promoters, in the progress of insurrection or revolution, ignorant, violent, and wicked men will soon take the lead, and conduct an enraged people to any extremity.