Featured

Government

Who should government serve?

This country is built on protest, it is what makes us who we are!

Is it not in the best interest of government to pave the way for the biggest money makers who will then pay taxes? This idea comes from the fact that in the original constitution only landowners were allowed to vote. In large part this was because the founding fathers were landowners and is therefore looked at as an oppressive move. Is it not true that we needed farms to succeed in order for the country to succeed, and in order for those farms to succeed we needed those farms to have the largest input on laws, trade agreements, even the layout of the land access to ports to protect the country’s most valuable assets. This is the first post on my new blog. I’m just getting this new blog going, so stay tuned for more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.

This is the type of argument made by Macciaveli, serve your assets to keep them strong, but not so strong that they can overpower you. The American revolution came in part with hopes to remove that ‘not too powerful’ glass ceiling by spreading the power around.

The main flaw in this argument is that it is very short sighted. Farming, mining, and lumber produced our major exports, but even at the time of the drafting of the constitution there where production of valuable goods were moving away from land dependence and in the home, in factories and even the office. (The printing press made Benjamin Franklin famous, but a newspaper does not require land.)  Had we not shifted to give the non-land owners a vote, we would be stuck in a country ruled by farmers and landlords in a time when major commerce is actually fueled by media companies, Google, Uber and other technologically driven companies. Again, as business is now the money maker, should the government be primarily serving them?

I would argue that such a move would again be short sighted. Is it possible to foster the businesses of today without impeding the businesses of tomorrow? On the other hand, do we end up creating businesses that produce great wealth, but don’t pay taxes. If the majority of your country’s business is not paying taxes, the country will go bankrupt. The ‘not too powerful’ part comes back into play.

What if a government fostered new business over old? What if an entrepreneurial adventure was as easy for each citizen as falling out of a chair. If there were laws that protected the startup from frivolous lawsuits by established companies looking to keep competition at bay. If they didn’t need large amounts of money to go after big business that knew they could steal from the start ups because ‘they can’t afford the legal fight that we can’ or ‘by the time they know what we have done, we will have captured their target market’. Would this lead to a demise in older companies? Would that be a bad thing?

Driving on the right.

As one who is paranoid about being in other peoples way, I insist on sitting in the back, keeping my head down when I can’t, and staying in the slow lane when I am not passing someone. Few drivers however, pay any attention to the rear view mirror, causing massive frustration. You have all seen it. A car going slower than the speed limit sits in the left lane while a string of cars piles up behind. The car pays no mind. Finally a few cars take an opportunity to pass on the right. The car pays no mind and continues on in the left lane sometimes even showing frustration at the cars that pass.

The building frustration of this situation drives people to take risks. Passing at high speeds is dangerous. It is even more dangerous when those cars are moving much slower on the right side. It encourages weaving in and out of traffic, which again is dangerous and causes a lot of angery drivers who then pay more attention to the waving cars than the other cars around them.

This is why several states have laws against driving in the left lane or “fast lane”. Vehicles pulling trailers are banned from driving on the left in most cities or congested highway sections and the most common roadway sign after speed limit signes are “slower traffic keep right”.

Ok, as you can see, I am a very passionate about this subject, probably because I tend to pass more than let myself be passed. So you can imagine how enthused I was on a recent road trip through Oregon to find the drivers are somewhat stringent on the passing on the left rule. It really is an experience all drivers should have in their life. It was beautiful.

But the novelty quickly wore off for the passengers in my van. In attempting to keep out of the left lane unless passing, I change lanes more than most. Now I was practically weaving left and right as cars jossled back and forth letting faster cars through while slowly overtaking the slowest half of the cars. In the back of my van there were growns as a motion sick passenger attempted to fool her senses into thinking it wasn’t moving.

Now I had to either settle for traveling at the speed of the slowest trucks, or break my own rule and spend more rime in the left lane even when other cars wanted to pass.

I longed for home, where I wouldn’t stand out for being a left lane loafer, because everyone is. I could get away with being slightly better than the crowd and still feed my vanity by feeling better than those other terrible, worthless drivers. Add to that the fact that I could pump my own gas and I really couldn’t wait to get out of the state. Maybe a more rule following society isn’t what I want, or at least not something I am prepared to be a part of.

They say that you are often the person you get along with least, and in this case it was true for me. I really don’t get along with people like me. Perhaps this is I say that if you like what you read here, then this is not where you belong. Think about the people you don’t get along with most, are you like them?