One of the last places in America where the pursuit of excellence is encouraged and rewarded is in the sporting arena. On the field of play, be it football, baseball, basketball, bowling or whatever, competition is celebrated and the desire to win and even dominate is standard. There was a time, not too long ago, where this was normal in the economic sphere as well. Amidst bailouts, nationalization and redistribution, I thought it would be interesting to consider what it would be like if we ran and regulated sports the way the government now taxes, regulates and manages the economy.

    Let us propose a game between the currently winless Detroit Lions and the undefeated Tennessee Titans. It is a foregone conclusion that liberals would want the Lions to win the game. Their self-esteem must be in the toilet, after all. They must be feeling really bad and we need to turn those frowns upside down! And who do those Titans think they are? Do they think they’re better than every other team? They probably cheated to win all those games. It isn’t right that they made all those other teams feel so bad. Everyone should be able to be a winner.

     When the coin is supposed to be tossed, the Titans are informed the coin is not going to be tossed. The Lions will be receiving the ball first in both halves and the Titans will have to play into the wind the entire game, there will be no switching of end zones. When the Titans kick off, they do so from the twenty to give the Lions an opportunity for a better return. The Lions are allowed to play twelve men and have five downs to make a first instead of four. On a pass play to the sideline, the Detroit receiver only got one foot down in bounds but the rule is changed on the spot to make it qualify as a catch.  Even so, hapless Detroit goes four and out and has to punt.

     The Titans get the ball and Kerry Collins’ first pass play goes for forty yards. The Titans find out, however, that whatever yards are gained after ten, they only receive half of them.   A forty yard play now becomes twenty-five.   Receivers are being held on every play and the officials do not call it. Even with the deck stacked against them, the Titans move the ball the length of the field and score a touchdown. During Detroit’s next series, the Titans intercept the ball. Three plays later they score another touchdown but they are informed that it doesn’t count. The rule is that there can never be more than a one touchdown lead in the game.

     By halftime the score is seven to nothing even though Tennessee has been in the end zone four times. They are frustrated and demoralized.   The Lions are taking advantage of the officials attitude and cheating without consequence, every time the Titans meet with success it doesn’t count, they seem to be working for nothing. In the other locker room, the Lions are pumped up. Even though they have only sixty total yards in the first half they are exited because they are only down one touchdown against the mighty Titans.

     In the second half, the Titans’ offense is flat. No one wants to play hard anymore since nothing they do counts for anything. Their first three possessions are three and out. By the time Detroit gets the ball for the third time, the Tennessee defense is beginning to tire.   The Lions finally score touchdown. The officials then inform the teams that since Detroit has such a hard time getting to the end zone, their extra point is going to be worth two points instead of one. Tennessee now finds themselves one point down with four minutes remaining in the fourth. Collins tries to fire up his offense and they begin to move the ball again.   With thirty seconds remaining they have moved the ball into the red zone. As the clock ticks down, they line up for the game winning field goal. The clock shows eight seconds left just before the snap. Detroit calls a timeout but the officials do not stop the clock. They let it run down and declare the game over. Result; Detroit 8-Tennessee 7.

     The point of our little exercise is this. The object of rules in a game is to create a level playing field where people can compete and gain success commensurate with their talent, hard work and a little luck. If rules are only applied to one side, are changed in the middle of a game, skewed to assist one group at the expense of another or to punish success, no one is going to want to play the game.

     Thomas Jefferson rightly observed, “a wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circle of our felicities.” The purpose of government under the constitution was to provide a secure arena and basic rules for our endeavors and that was all. It was not to assist one group at the expense of another or to punish those who were too successful.   If we really want to get us out of our economic malaise we will return to that which made America great. We will reduce government control over the economy and our lives to Jefferson’s basics, stop subsidizing or punishing groups or industries with taxes and regulation and unleash the entrepreneurial spirit of man. 

Patrick Samuels

www.patricsamuels.com

Author of "Memoirs of a Former American"

Sugar Mountain, North Carolina June 27, 2031

     He knew they’d come, sooner or later, he knew they'd come. The dogs were barking loudly now, and he knew the day had finally arrived. As Carl Lee sat at his metal kitchen table in his small home in the mountains, he caressed the semi-automatic rifle before him. He had often wondered what would be going through his mind when he finally had to decide, when the choice before him was accepting a life of cowardice and bondage or if he would go out fighting for all he’d been taught to believe in. Would he, in the end, bow to the powers he had held in contempt most of his life or would he die a free man with integrity and honor, alone on the side of a mountain. If someone had told him thirty years ago he would be making this choice, he would have laughed. This was America, the land of the free and the home of the brave. This was the one place in the world where you were free to speak your mind, worship your God and defend your right to do it. A lot had changed in thirty years.

     Thirty years ago the vision of America’s founders was on life support. Twenty years ago it died. A man’s money was no longer his own, even his body wasn’t his. They told you what to eat, when to go to the doctor, how to pee in an environmentally friendly way. Then his favorite talk radio shows went off the air and the gays were celebrating marriage in the local courthouse. His own preacher was sitting in jail for hate speech because he had dared to condemn homosexuality from the pulpit. People were angry and frustrated. People like him who had no idea how a government elected by the people could do these things. How could they vote away the right to speak freely? How could they vote to kill babies and legitimize deviancy? No one Carl knew wanted any of it. Even when he saw the polls, most Americans didn’t want any of it yet the politicians in Washington just kept pushing ahead, doing whatever they wanted, the people be damned. 

     At first he figured, as did many others, it was just crazy liberal Democrats doing their thing. There would be a backlash and things would be put right. He should have known better. Washington has a momentum all its own and once something gets started, there’s no stopping it. Democrats, Republicans, it didn’t matter. Government got bigger and more intrusive every year and all the political promises to the contrary, it continued to this day. This, of course, became obvious to a lot of people. The few that had the means left. But most, like Carl, believed this was their country and they shouldn’t be forced out or forced to accept all this garbage. For a short time he held out hope in the secessionist movement. He went to a few meetings and rallies but the numbers were never there. Most people had become so dependant on Washington that they couldn’t imagine themselves willingly disengaging themselves from the government teat. They were slaves and could no longer even comprehend the meaning of freedom.

     So Carl and others withdrew. He bought this little place in the mountains. He disentangled himself from government control as much as he could, the official notices detailing his non-compliance piled on the mantle a testament to that fact. He still voted, hoping against hope the people he supported would turn things around, restore the liberty that once reigned supreme.   His final disappointment came with the gun ban three years ago. He held up his Glock 9mm. It, and all other handguns, were illegal. Single shot hunting rifles were the only legal firearms and those only after an expensive permit was acquired. How the second amendment could be so flagrantly disregarded was beyond him but he shouldn’t have been surprised since the first had been ignored as well. Last year the supreme Court ruled the ban constitutional and everyone was given ninety day to turn in their guns. That was when Carl decided to take his stand. They had tried to muzzle him, they had taken more of his property every year, they tried to make him accept their health care and other services and he had resisted. Now they wanted to take his right to protect himself. If he allowed them to do it he knew he would be completely at their mercy. He would be forced to rely on government for everything and he would have no power over the choices they made for him. That was unacceptable in America regardless of what Washington said.

    The notices came first, then a visit from the sheriff who was a friend of his. He warned Carl that if he refused to turn them over it would be out of his hands.   Carl understood. He tried to live as he always did but somehow he had the feeling he was living borrowed time, like a cancer patient who had been given three months to live and was still alive ninety-one days later. He heard scattered reports of other resisters being shot or carted off to prison. The news rarely mentioned the incidents and when they did it was always the good government protecting the people from some nut. He was not a nut but no one would ever know that. He believed himself a patriot standing up for his rights against a tyrannical power.

    He started at a shot in the yard, followed by another. The dogs no longer barked. Carl gathered the two weapons and walked into the living room. He sat down in the recliner, facing the door. He put the Glock on the table beside him and cradled the rifle in his hands, pointing it at the door. He began reciting the twenty-third psalm. There was a knock at the door and the federal agents announced their arrival. Carl paused for a moment and then shouted, “You can have my guns when you pry them out of my cold dead hands. God bless America!”

If you enjoyed the story.....

1. Forward it to all your friends and

2. You would also enjoy Memoirs of a Former American, a look at the next sixty years of American history.

    

Patrick Samuels

www.patricksamuels.com    

     It occurred to me the other day, as I have looked, as I often do, at the lack of correlation between the size and scope of the Federal Government and the limits imposed on it by the Constitution, that there is an interesting practical and philosophical parallel between the value of the dollar in our society and that of the Constitution. 

     We have, in this country, what is called “fiat” money. What that means is that the dollar is not attached to or backed by anything of real value. Once upon a time, this country operated on money known as “specie” or coins that had real value, mainly gold and silver. After the Civil War the federal government decided to standardize the great variety of paper money issued by banks or states with the dollar which represented a certain amount of gold. If one had a dollar one could trade that dollar in for an equal amount of gold. This is known as being on the gold standard. Using money that had real value worked for this country until Franklin Roosevelt decided to change the entire face and scope of the federal government and this massive grab for power included taking gold out of circulation. Theoretically, the currency was still backed by gold but gold could no longer be used in transactions because it was illegal to own. During the Nixon administration even this fiction was eliminated. The dollar is now worth.....what we think it’s worth. No longer anchored by anything “real” the worth of the dollar fluctuates based on a variety of factors and has, over the long run, declined in value...considerably.

     For one hundred years the constitution was the anchor of our republic. The warnings of the founders about a powerful central government were heeded. President Jefferson said “In matters of Power, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.” Like the dollar being chained to gold, our federal government was restrained by the Constitution and by the values, assumptions and fears of the founders.   It was the moral values of our Judeo-Christian heritage, the assumption that public service was to be just that, and the fear of a powerful central government that maintained the course of our country and bound men of ambition from “mischief”.

     Power, however, is a great temptation for those with even the best of intentions and the attempts to break the chains that restrained our government increased in intensity over time. In the past hundred years Christianity has been attacked and removed from the public square, public service is rare and statesmanship is nearly unheard of as officials have been reduced to pandering to special interests to keep their privilege, and the fear of a strong and expansive central government has turned into an embrace.   Every time the federal government expanded its power, every time it took on a new role, we, as a people, made the conscious decision to remove the chains and unleash the beast. Whereas the monster was once firmly secured to the rock that was the Constitution, we have now taken that role on ourselves. We now have a picture of a fire breathing dragon, flying above our heads as we, like the Lilliputians of Gulliver’s Travels, are holding onto the ropes thinking we still have control. 

     The problem is we have now taken a progressive view of the constitution, we treat it as a “living” document.   It, like the dollar, now has whatever value we feel it does. In reality, by treating the Constitution as a living document, we kill it. By assigning whatever meaning to it we choose, we give it no meaning at all. By seeking the “penumbras” we make its clear meaning and intent irrelevant. Our government now takes on roles that even the majority of us wish it wouldn’t but once the beast is unleashed, its growth and direction eventually resist our power to control. It is now lobbyists and special interests that feed the beast, determining its shape, size and direction. We have been reduced to a helpless maiden, shrieking as the monster plunders and restrains us, hoping that occasionally our cries are heard, and the monster pauses, at least for a moment.

      The good news is that in a democratic republic, we get the government we desire if we have the courage and the fortitude to slay the monster. Individually, there is little we can do. Collectively, “We the people” still have the ultimate power. We can say no to big government, no to excessive regulation, no to high taxes but we also have to have the resolve to say no to the largess we receive, we have to take back responsibility for our own lives, we must be brave enough to live as free people once again. We have the power to grab the beast and chain it again to the rock of the Constitution but only if we put off the garments of the helpless maiden and put on the armor of the bold knight. It is in our power to restore to this country the system of limited government that ensured our liberty as individuals and our greatness as a country. The only question that remains, are there enough courageous people left in the “land of the free and the home of the brave” to join the quest?