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SyndicateThe Mandate, Part II
By Robert Ringer - Wednesday, February 11, 2009
By Robert Ringer
At the end of Part I of this article, I said I would address the question of whether BHO is right when he says that Americans gave him a mandate to pursue his socialist agenda. Did you give BHO a mandate? I didn’t. And, the fact is, neither did a majority of the population. Allow me to explain:
Roughly 52 percent of the approximately 133 million people who voted in the presidential election cast their votes for BHO. Sounds good … except for one little fact that politicians choose to ignore: Only 56.8 percent of the approximately 231 million eligible voters actually voted. Which means that slightly more than 70 percent of the voter-eligible populace did not vote for BHO.
So, as difficult as it may be for the tingle-legged, logic-challenged among us to accept, in the United States of America, it is, in fact, the minority who rules the majority. In the case of BHO, roughly 70 percent of eligible voters voted for other candidates or chose not to vote at all (a.k.a. “refusing to vote for the lesser of two evils”).
Thus, as in every election, it is those who voted against the winning candidate, along with those who chose not to vote for anyone, who actually formed the majority. Which means that more than two-thirds Americans are now being ruled by a socialist for whom less than one-third of eligible voters voted for.
In truth, then, “mandate of the people” really means mandate of a small minority of people whose candidates are elected. Hardly what a schoolchild envisions when he is taught about “majority rule.”
The belief that “the people have chosen” is, pure and simple, a myth. What in fact takes place in an election is that two candidates, who have been selected by a small group of politically active people, are propped up before the citizenry, and a minority of citizens then elect one of them to rule everyone — including the majority that didn’t vote for him/her.
As a side note, I should also point out that not only does the majority not rule, but the day-to-day ruling, where the worst violations of natural rights occur, is carried out by people in regulatory agencies who are not even elected to their offices. What happens is that those who are elected by a minority of the population turn around and dole out draconian power to non-elected bureaucrats who do not have to answer to voters — and who are almost impossible to remove from their jobs.
Thus, democracy’s main attraction from government’s standpoint is that it gives the illusion of consent. People, through mind-numbing slogans and mind twisting logic, are led to believe that government represents them, thus they feel content. But, as Alvin Toffler pointed out nearly thirty years ago, letting people vote every few years is the equivalent of throwing them a piece of raw meat. Once the election charade is over, they once again realize that they have virtually no power.
When a “democratic” government does an efficient job of maintaining this illusion, the reward can be a power seeker’s dream: the enthusiastic support of a large percentage of the people who are ruled.
The one glimmer of hope is that I believe more and more people are recognizing that “government by the people” has come to mean government by those in power. As just one example, at the same time that unemployment in the private sector has risen dramatically, government jobs have actually increased.
Enough! I’m happy to say that I have a solution to all this, and it’s 100 percent guaranteed to work — for those who are willing to work. The solution is simple: The most powerful stimulus we need from Washington right now is for the government to do nothing. That’s right, nothing!
If there were no bailouts, no spending packages, no new regulations … if government would just get out of the way and stick to the job that we, the people, hired it to do — protect our lives and property — the economy would explode overnight.
But, of course, that isn’t going to happen. Why? Because, in the end, enough shameless Republicans will capitulate. Oh, they’ll make it sound as though they got big concessions from the Democrats, but the final package will still be a political rape of Mr. and Mrs. America.
The reason the Republican Party is on the verge of extinction is because, in the end, a majority of Republicans give in to the intimidation tactics of the left. And the euphemism that most intimidates them is when they are admonished to “reach across the aisle.” The only problem with reaching across the aisle is that the reaching is, for the most part, one-way — right to left.
Compromise sounds like a wonderful virtue until you examine it more closely. How do you compromise between moral and immoral? Between responsible and irresponsible? Between freedom and slavery?
In the real world of politics, compromise is but a euphemism for liberalism … liberalism is a euphemism for Marxism … and Marxism is a euphemism for totalitarian rule. And that is precisely what the liberal fascists (to borrow from the title of Jonah Goldberg’s book) in D.C. are after — total, fascistic rule.
I find it kind of amazing that there are so few conservatives in Congress who are willing to stand up to this threat — a threat that promises to extinguish the centerpiece of the American Dream: liberty.
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Copyright © 2012 Robert Ringer
ROBERT RINGER is a New York Times #1 bestselling author and host of the highly acclaimed Liberty Education Interview Series, which features interviews with top political, economic, and social leaders. He has appeared on Fox News, Fox Business, The Tonight Show, Today, The Dennis Miller Show, Good Morning America, The Lars Larson Show, ABC Nightline, and The Charlie Rose Show, and has been the subject of feature articles in such major publications as Time, People, The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Barron's, and The New York Times.
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6 Responses to “The Mandate, Part II”
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Time and again over the last few days BHO has sounded the alarm that if they (the government) do nothing to help the economy that we will be facing a catastrophy. In a way, he is correct, however it will not be ‘we’ meaning the American people, it will be his democrat party and his administration. For if they do nothing, I believe the economy will straighten itself out. Yes, there will be pain, but it will give us tremendous rewards. The catastrophy will be that the American people will realize they don’t need BHO and the democrats handouts to survive. the American people will realize that they can do it on their own with out the ‘help’ of the government.
I heard some talking heads before the election say it would be the end of the democrat party if BHO didn’t win. I was saying to anyone that would listen that if he did win, it would be the end of the democrat party. That is the catastrophy he is talking about. No one to promise handouts to the lazy. No one to run our nanny state. Hopefully, a strong third party that represents liberty and a free market will rise from all this. One can only hope…
Do the people really want someone to lead them down the hard path, the correct path? Ron Paul offered the people that path and was crushed by the media for it. All centers of power have been over run by Marxists. This was not by accident. This has been going on for over 100 years! I’m convinced the only way to save the Nation it for a few brave states to say “Enough! You have violated the compact that binds us together! You are null and void!” Will BHO then, like the one he pretends to be like, hold the nation together at the point of a sword again? I served this nation proudly as an officer and took an oath to defend her, but she is dead. She has been raped and murdered by the Marxists. The best we can hope for is to learn the lesson and not repeat the same mistakes over and over again. How glorious it would be to put the largest employer out of business! Jefferson expected a good revolution every now and again, perhaps we are past due.
“Where the scope of the political measures become so large that the necessary knowledge is almost exclusively possessed by the bureaucracy, the creative impulses of the private person must flag.” The Road To Serfdom, pg. 234, The Definitive Edition, by F.A. Hayek.
Reading Mr. Ringers thoughts about the electorate, electoral process, the current and former president, and his theme about the “mandate” instantly reminded me of the above quotation. I also thought: what are the ramifications of this so called “mandate?”
To me the meaning of a mandate is simple: “the authority bestowed on a government or other organization by an electoral victory, effectively authorizing it to carry out the policies for which it campaigned.” Even though Obama’s mandate is from the numerical minority of the total population, it’s still an electoral victory; and it’s still a justification to make an important and meaningful “change.” So what does president Obama’s mandate really mean? What is his change really all about?
The first concrete indication of “change” and where the President is going to take us is “The American Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Plan” (aka The Stimulus Plan aka The Plan to Simulate the Growth of Government.) This is our new President’s first major attempt to pass legislation that will bring “change” i.e. his mandate to move forward with his overall “plans.” A version of this “plan” should be passed in a few days, now that negotiations have finished between the House and Senate regarding this bill.
“The scope of the political measures” in Obama’s [mandated plans] are so large “that the necessary knowledge is almost exclusively” going to be possessed by the “bureaucracy.” Think about it……. This “mandate” will give new meaning to the phrase “The bureaucracy is expanding to meet the needs of an expanding bureaucracy.” And, even more dire, is the possibility that this “mandate” could crush what’s left of capitalism. Yes, capitalism and, as F.A. Hayek so adroitly expressed it, “the creative impulses of the private person must flag. ” Time doesn’t permit me to elaborate on this point, but I’m sure you can figure it out.
Speaking of capitalism, I wish I had the time to relate to you how I finally learned the true meaning of capitalism, expressed in the most powerfully-simple and straightforward of terms (terms that even I could understand), from reading a book authored by a tortoise. That tortoise is none other than Robert Ringer. Perhaps in the future Mr. Ringer will blog about capitalism and it would be appropriate to comment.
This presents an interesting perspective on whether the Big O actually has a “mandate.” The numbers are encouraging, i.e., those who did not vote plus those who voted for another candidate.
I, and perhaps most Americans who love liberty, cannot help but be depressed at what is going on. .
Watch especially for the reimposition of the Fairness Doctrine. That wluld almost be a call to arms, or at least some kind of radicalism not yet seriously explored. The generations it their 40′s and up will be the last to remember what real freedom looks like. If the current crop of socialists can outlast them, then hope is lost for the remaining generations. No, the battle has come to us.
It however, to remember there are millions of us and that ultimately it is up to us as individuals to be happy, adjust, and adapt (while fighting). If people could survive the Nazi concentration camps with a will to live and appreciation for life, surely dealing with this challenge is manageable.
I discuss dealing with the financial crisis and several Amendments that would increase the power of State Legislatures at http://www.newgeography.com/users/kenstremsky
If you want to reduce the amount of harm caused by the federal government, you should support Amendments to the United States Constitution that increase the power of State Legislatures.
If you want to reduce the amount of harm caused by the federal government, you should support Amendments to the United States Constitution that increase the power of the people.
State Legislatures and the people should both have the power to repeal federal laws, federal regulations, trade agreements, and Treaties.
State Legislatures and the people should both have the power to fire their United States Senators, their Representatives to the United States House of Representatives, the President, and the Vice President.
My website is http://www.myspace.com/kennethstremsky
Sincerely,
Ken Stremsky
It has always been this way and it will never be any different. The problem the repulicans have is they have been selling out to wall street and big bussines for so long they have no credibility left.
I truly feel sorry for the conservatives because the republicans have been selling them out too, and the conservative party is the party the democrats should have been dealing with.