Caesarean In The Ascendency

Oscar B. Johannsen

[Reprinted from The Gargoyle, October 1976]

In 1776, in words of such matchless simplicity and depth of thought that they stirred the conscience of the civilized world, the people declared their independence from the might and power of arbitrary government.

Today, the people by voting for the type of government which the colonists rejected have demanded the right to float on the back of big government to the Nirvana of a Utopia in which those who work and produce are damned and denounced as exploiting devils while those who revel in a drone like existence of no work and no effort are looked upon as deserving angels.

The irony of it all is enough to make the gods laugh with glee in their Valahala. In this bicentennial year, as the people express their admiration for the revolutionaries of 1776, at the same time they vote belief in bigger government, more oppressive and more dictatorial then any that George III ever dared impose on the colonists.

The edicts which emanate from such governmental bureaucracies as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) make some of those issued by George Ill's flunkies mild by comparison. The tax levied on the tea imported by the colonists which led to the famous tea party was insignificant compared to the taxes levied by government today.

Actually the colonists had much more freedom from government in 1776 than the people today have. The colonists hated the relatively mild oppression of George III --the people today, judging by their votes, want even more, oppression. Yet, while they vote for big government, at the same time they denounce it as did the colonists. The principle difference is that the colonists' actions conformed to their denunciations, while the people's actions today are in contradiction to their big government.

How has this come about? It has been the result of a long process over the past two centuries. In the 18th century, America made a terrible mistake when it instituted our socialized school system. Instead of placing education in the domain of private enterprise, which would have resulted in the finest possible educational opportunities for all, it went down the disastrous road of a socialistic system-our public schools. Today they are the breeding ground not only in a belief in the ability of government to solve problems, but actually have degenerated to such an extent that in some of the big cities they are little better than jungles in which children prey on one another. The colonists would have wiped out such a mockery of education; the people today, as in New Jersey impose income taxes on themselves to make the socialistic system ever bigger. Though it may be argued that the people did not want the income tax, they voted for the men who imposed it.

The people have voted for big government because the politicians who favor it have promised the people everything. But as government has nothing to give, in order to attempt to live up to some of the promises which the politicians have made, it must take from those who produce to give to those who do not.

The institution of our system of private control of land, without at the same time obtaining the economic rent for the use of the land which belongs to all has led to a monstrously uneven development of the country. Land in cities is held out of use or under-developed as a result of speculation in land values, awaiting a rise in the price of land. This has forced leap-frogging out to suburbs, necessitating long hours of travel to and from work, as well as the construction of sanitary systems, roads and other civic services which would otherwise have been unnecessary.

Not the least of this system of giving monopolistic control over the opportunities of the earth without requiring in turn the proper rent for the monopoly granted, has been the business cycle with alternating booms and busts. From these busts have come the demands for government to solve the problems of the people.

But government can solve no problems. All it can do is make a worse mess of things and it does. Each mess is covered up with one blanket after another in the form of different agencies and bureaus which are set up to solve the problems which previous bureaus caused, but which only multiply them.

As the people demand increasing services, to pacify them the government follows the practice which the Romans did. They give the people bread and circuses. The bread today is a proliferation of welfare of services so involved, so complex and so acting at cross purposes with one another as to beggar the imagination. Its circuses consist of such absurd projects as flying to the moon, an immensely diverting and thrilling bit of theatre but of little practical value or usefulness. But as increasing swarms of people are forced off the land by our unjust system land tenure into the cities, the government gambles on projects such as these to keep the people, if not happy, at least pacified.

The growing power of the mobs in the cities who have learned to vote themselves largess alarms the aristocracy which just as in Roman times attempts to guarantee its safety by capturing control of the government. Increasingly, this class of people will attempt to place into power men who will protect it from the marauding hordes of people in the cities. This means demands for someone to provide safety. With the breakdown in incentive to produce and the increasing crime in the cities, it is easy to look for the man on the white horse to restore order.

In Rome, it lead to dictators, to Caesars and emperors. In America it will lead to the same unless somehow or other the people can be taught to look to themselves to solve their problems and to institute a system of land tenure which is just to all.

If the present drift continues probably within a generation or two, another Julius Caesar will be offered a crown to wear in imperialistic United States. Will he refuse it? Hardly.