Government Intervention

As I write this and, more than likely, as you read this, the federal government is encroaching even further into our lives. The banking crisis, the automobile industry, national healthcare: you name it and Uncle Sam is intervening. My god, folks, when will we say, “Enough”?

Its time I share something with you, but it must stay between us. To let it out to the general public may well induce panic in the streets. So lean very close to your monitor: with the enactment of the first law of this (or any other) land, government has been intervening in the lives of its citizens. Okay, lean back now and pretend that everything is normal. Careful, for to scream this out at the top of your lungs invites mass hysteria.

Speed limits? Government intervention. Drivers licenses? Government intervention. Minimum drinking age? Government intervention. Every law ever written creates limits where there were none and those limits represent some sort of intervention into our previously unfettered lives. Why is it that, all of a sudden, we must steel ourselves from this intruder?

Part of the reason lies in the tried and true theory of fear mongering in the absence of rational argument. Right-leaning pundits and politicians have used this method of debate in the past with reasonable success. Other entities concerned with preserving the status quo use similar tactics to persuade us to prefer the devil we know over the devil we don’t. Another part lies in our resistance to government’s unnecessary intrusion into our pursuit of happiness. This part, at least, is a good thing because, without it, those in power would be even more inclined to exercise it.

Let’s think of society as the child and government as the parent. (Society includes the business world, too.) Now, as children grow and mature the parents provide them more latitude so long as their behavior is commensurate with expectations. Should they stray, however, mom and dad are quick to clamp down on their “freedoms” until they return to a more accepted degree of compliance.

Government’s role of regulating and/or monitoring has been minimized to the point where it is comparable to the folks leaving town for a month and trusting the kids to take care of themselves. And we all know, without actually doing it, that such a scenario, parentally speaking, is probably less than a great idea.

The “financial services” industry (don’t you love that name) has been on a bender for a good while. Every poke and prod at the limit of their authority was met with no resistance which only encouraged new pokes and prods. Money was rolling in and everybody was happy so why rock the boat? Maintaining the nautical theme, that ship has sailed. The economy is on the rocks and many retirement plans have disappeared down the drain. For the feds to step in so as to prevent further damage makes perfect sense.

Using our money for bailouts in the banking and automotive sectors is unpalatable on many fronts, but the collateral damage from failures of such grand scale would be far worse, I’d think. Even now, the ripples are touching nearly every other sector of our economy. Let’s consider those bailed out as kids who are in desperate need of structure. That structure now exists in the form of executive compensation and the monitoring of other front office decisions so long as public money is included in the corporate coffers.

The nationalized health care debate is glowing white hot as Congress attempts to get its arms around this problem that, in one way or another, costs us all. Lets consider the healthcare industry a recalcitrant tyke who refuses to modify any behavior until the threat of even greater discomfort looms. The current administration seems serious about providing some degree of health care for most, if not all, citizens. Suddenly, providers, hospitals, doctors, and the like want a seat at the table. Why the change?

It could be because there is now a serious threat to the status quo and the only way to keep one’s ox from being gored is to get involved in what will be the new status quo. Kind of takes concern for the patient out of the mix, doesn’t it? Regardless, the parental threat causes a desired reaction from the brat.

While none of us may support unwarranted intrusions into our daily lives, such forays cannot be considered novel by any standard. The degree of intervention should be proportional to the unruliness of society and I think we can agree that the kids have had the run of the house for so long that major intervention is required. So stop the ballyhooing of socialist state or anti-capitalism or nationalization. Our system is out of whack and needs some tweaking. Something the government is uniquely positioned to effect.